Second Chances
by LoganAlpha30
Summary: Current Angel continuity.  Second chances for a select pair that I love. Chapter 21 Now Up!!!
1. Default Chapter

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 1-A New Beginning  
  
  
  
It rained the day she gained her freedom, but for her it really wouldn't have mattered if a hurricane had hit, for she was finally free. But with the freedom came the dreaded realization that in most aspects of her life she had been a complete screw-up, for she had no friends to speak of, only a few acquaintances that barely knew more than her name. She had once been around people that she wanted to call friends, but time and again she had proven to herself and them why getting close to her was something that none of them could safely do. There had only been three that had ever really tried to get close, and to repay their kindness she had tried to destroy every aspect of their lives, hurting the friends and family of two of them while nearly beating the third one to death. And the beating of that third person was what now consumed her thoughts the most, for that third person had been someone that she was supposed to look up to, someone to help guide her in her quest. But she had turned rogue and now was sure that no one cared if she lived or died.  
  
She spent her first night of freedom in a two bit flea bag of a motel, it being the only residence that she could afford off the meager amount that she had been able to scrounge up during her stay in prison. She had found the bed to be somehow harder that the one that she had in prison and tried hard to make a go of it. But just as she began to drift off to sleep they came, the faces, the voices of those that she had hurt. They came like a tidal wave that threatened to completely engulf her, drowning her in her tortured memory. Before she had been sentenced to that small hole in the wall that became her home for longer than she cared to admit, she had barely a care or worry about what she did, who she hurt. But now those that she had hurt were all that she could think about, and after spending much of the night endlessly tossing and turning in bed she had bolted to her feet and out the door, hoping to find something, anything, that would ease the pain of the voices in her head.  
  
The long dark and maddening spiral downward had all began much earlier, all before she had ever even heard the name of a town in southern California that was to have been her salvation, but in the end it had very nearly turned into her damnation. At first her home life could almost have been considered idyllic, for although it was only her and her mother she was happy. But that had all changed for the worst when her mother lost her job and started hitting the bottle and servicing clients, all in trying to make the ever widening gap between bills and funds slowly crawl back closer together. Then where her life had been ideal it ebbed into a horrific existence of scrounging together whatever items of food that weren't moldy, rotten, or had past their expiration date to feed herself. Soon after she had packed her few meager belongings and hit the streets, vowing to make something of herself, to never become like her mother. She remembered the looks that people had given her mother, where once she had received looks of gentleness and support she now received looks of disgust and fear.  
  
So many months later she had found herself in Sunnydale, but once again she found that she had been usurped by someone that even though she would never admit it was most likely stronger, faster, and smarter than she. But what hurt the most was not that she was physically inferior, at least in her eyes, by this someone new but that the new someone had something that she had craved nearly her entire life, a loving family and caring friends. She had friends back home all right but she had hidden her other life, her true calling, from them as best she could, forever fearing that if they discovered what she had been doing all those night, why she had stood them up so many times and ducked out of more engagements than she could keep track of. She was lucky enough though to at least have one person that knew everything about her double life, he was a man that had appeared suddenly one night while she was spending time with her friends, he had waited until she was alone to approach. He had tried his best to tell her all about her destiny of being some savior of the people and other high ideals like that. At first she had blown the man off with some rather strong and choice words, words that had her mother heard them would have been met with a stern scolding and possibly even a sharp slap across the face. But with her friends was different and the man, although taken aback, did not utter a word in response.  
  
It had been several days later before she met the man again, this time she was spending the night in one of the many cemeteries of her hometown on a dare from one of her friends. He had appeared just as suddenly and mysteriously as he had those days earlier, but this time she was to tired to argue so she sat and let him tell her his whole spiel, and by the time the sun had come up, and after an attack by a newly risen vampire, she was convinced that the man was telling her the truth and not pulling her leg. It was on that night that she changed for an awkward social outcast with few friends and a soon to be booze addicted mother to being Faith, the vampire slayer. It was not long after that night that she left home and ended up in Sunnydale, hoping that she could find someone to trust with all of this newfound knowledge that she had, possibly even find a place to call home. But that new someone that she had met, the one with the loving family and caring friends had already staked her claim to the town and was to be forever dead-set against leaving. She had tried to live in Sunnydale along with that new someone but had ended up wanting nothing more than to ruin this new someone's idyllic life just as badly as her own life had been ruined, she wanted to ruin the life of Buffy Summers the vampire slayer, by any means necessary.  
  
After being placed in, and finally recovering from, a coma at the hands of one Buffy Summers she had left town and moved away, only to end up in prison, the one place where many a person had thought that she always belonged. At first she had disagreed with them, violently at times, and as such had spent many a long night in solitary confinement, shivering against the cold stone floor of the cell, her mind almost ceasing to function normally. But after a few years of going back and forth between hot nights in her cell and bitterly cold nights in solitary confinement she had been brought in before the parole board and a miracle had happened. At first when the chair of the board told her that her haphazard request for parole had been granted her ears and brain refused to believe it, for she had been deceived before and had paid dearly for it. But this time the promise of freedom had not been a cruel joke and a few weeks later she was freed.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
That night didn't go to well for him either. He had come to America to be the watcher for an unprecedented two active slayers. Many of the members of the council had ridiculed him with charges that he was to young, to inexperienced, to rigid to even possibly be able to handle one slayer, let alone two. His stay in Sunnydale had been fairly brief, for he had no more than gotten settled when he had seriously bungled up one of his charges by trying to turn her over to the Council after she had gone rogue. After that the rest of the gang in Sunnydale, including the watcher that he had replaced only weeks earlier, missed very few opportunities to remind him of his faults and failures, chief among them his handling of the rogue slayer. So partially because of that he had left Sunnydale and moved to Los Angeles with just about the only two friends that he had left in the world, Cordelia Chase and the vampire cursed with a soul, Angel.  
  
And for a time he began to feel as if he had found himself a family, one that he felt more love from than his own family back in England. He had made new friends, mainly a friend in Gunn and a meek mouse of a woman that he had at first fallen in love with, but she hadn't felt the same way and had found love somewhere else. And he was glad for her, he was glad for them all; they had all found someone to love that loved them back, even Cordelia and Angel. But for him there had been no one. While it was true that he had taken to sleeping with Lilah Morgan from Wolfram and Hart he justified it by thinking that it was only sex, a way to release all of his pent up rage and frustration at his present circumstances. He had intended to save the life of his best friend's son, but had in the end wound up with his throat cut, no friends, and an ever increasing drinking habit. He knew that he needed a change but with the feeling that there was no one left in this world that gave a damn about him he ended up with the thought of. "What's the use of trying to better myself if no one gives a damn if I live or die?"  
  
That thought and many more like it had begun to consume him. To try and keep them at bay he had set up his own crew, with him as the unchallenged leader of it. No one in his new group ever challenged his authority, after a particularly violent outburst early on he had discovered that most of his new cadre of allies thought him to be slightly off his rocker, and that was fine by him. Angel still came around at times, with regret and nervousness in his eyes, desperately wanting to ask him to come back to Angel Investigations. But for the time being he felt that he had outgrown his old life and wanted to start anew. That feeling is what led him to Charlie's Bar that dark and storm wracked night.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
She wandered the streets aimlessly bouncing from one bar to another, stealing a drink wherever she could find one, anything to try and make the pain stop. But after several hours, and several bars, she discovered that not even the sublime feeling of drunkenness could allow her to steal away even a second, let alone a minute or more, of freedom from their faces. She pushed their screams from her mind as she entered the next one. The bouncer at the door had been about to card her when she popped open the top few buttons of her shirt and had let the bouncer get a good look before kindly asking if he was still going to card her. He declined with a jubilant smile on his face as he waved her by.  
  
She chose an empty table far away from anyone else, for she preferred to be alone, better to deal with what had become of her once promising life. By now she was far too drunk to be thinking clearly, so when an obviously drunk biker whistled and leered at her she refrained from breaking his arm, with only a faint glare cast his way. After several minutes of looking around the bar her gaze fell onto a small group of people huddled in a poorly lit corner. The five of them had pulled the table over away from the nearest light and were having a rather heated discussion about something, but she was to far away to hear what it was about. She was about to move closer when she caught site of one of their faces as someone bumped a nearby light. Even though she hadn't seen one in years the sight of a vampire wearing its game face was something that Faith could never forget, even if she tried. "Great.vampires, just what I didn't want to see," she thought as she felt someone's eyes upon her.  
  
Feeling uncomfortable under the weight of someone staring at her, which for her was something new, she waited until a small crowd of patrons passed her table and quickly darted up from her seat, hoping to get lost in the crowd. It wasn't that she was afraid of the vampires, she was the slayer and it was her job, her destiny to stake vampires. It was the fact that at the moment she discovered that she wasn't thinking clearly, with all of the alcohol that she had consumed that night greatly impairing her judgment and cognitive skills. Even though she would never readily admit it she knew that her slayer skills had grown somewhat stagnant during her stay in prison and a battle with a cadre of vampires now was something that she simply did not need.  
  
  
  
The bouncer barely gave her a second look as she slipped by him and headed out the bars back door which led directly into an alley behind the bar. She stepped out in the alley without really noticing where she was going and stepped right into a rather deep puddle of water. Cursing loud enough to wake the dead she pulled her foot out of the puddle and leaned up against the outside wall of the bar, just as a light rain began to fall. "Perfect.just perfect," Faith thought ruefully as she stepped back away from the wall and was soon pelted by various sized drops of the newly falling rain. Angry that she had forgotten her coat she was about to run back inside the bar when a screeching sound from some distance behind her caught her ear, prompting her to stop, turn around, and then cautiously begin to stagger towards it.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
He entered Charlie's Bar having already had been to many others that night, and had heard from several intoxicated patrons that a rather young and beautiful woman had left, each time, just before he had arrived. Not thinking to much of the story Wesley had just gone about his nightly business of hitting enough bars to get him drunk enough to drown his sorrows away in the bottom of the bottle. He had begun this time sanity and money consuming routine shortly after his one time friends had cut him off. At first he had just drank to dull the pain, but now he drank to try and forget all the hardships that he had endured during his life, unfortunately he had discovered that no matter how much alcohol he consumed the memories would never go far.  
  
Soon after entering the bar he had noticed the small group of people that were huddled in the corner. It took him a little longer to discover that the small group was comprised completely of vampires, but as he wasn't to interest in fighting he paid them little mind. He pulled out a bar stool at the far end of the bar, away from the front door, before ordering a drink of the hardest stuff that the bartender had. From behind him he heard one of the bouncers talk about how a beautiful young raven haired woman had come in earlier and had given him quite a show. At first Wesley didn't think much of the story until the bouncer had described how the young woman had for a time intently watched the small group in the corner and then the look of not shock but more of annoyance at the fact that they were vampires, saying that she had seemingly took it in stride, as if she had seen many a vampire before.  
  
He had been about to turn and inquire as to where exactly the young woman was when a low screeching sound from a short distance away caught his attention. He turned half expecting to see a shabbily dressed bum trying to sneak in the back door or one of the bartenders returning from taking out the garbage. But he gasped when he turned and gazed over at the door, for standing in the doorway looking almost like a drowned rat, was the woman that had nearly ended his life years earlier. Standing in the doorway was his slayer, the woman that had haunted both his dreams and at times his fantasies, his old charge Faith. He quickly dropped his head and peered over his shoulder at her as she slowly and drunkenly sauntered her way back into the bar. Even though he was only barely glancing at her he was riveted. It was immediately apparent that she had changed, where as Faith had entered prison almost right out of high school, as young woman, she had definitely left that phase of her life behind. Faith had always been beautiful but now Wesley slowly glanced around the room and noticed many of the men in the bar staring greedily at her.  
  
Truth be told the years had been kind to her, physically at least, as Wesley more than once caught even himself staring at just how tight her clothes were. Shaking the thoughts out of his head Wesley began to run possible scenarios of whether to approach her or not through his head. He couldn't exactly just walk up to her and say hello. He had only just begun to come close to a rock solid idea when a loud crash interrupted him. He turned sharply to discover that the small group of vampires that had previously been hiding in the corner were now scattered throughout the bar, in their games faces, and breaking every light that they could find. The last thing that he saw before the entire bar went black was Faith turning towards him and her eyes growing wide in the shock of recognition.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 1 


	2. We Fight To Live

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 2-We Fight to Live  
  
The first few seconds after the lights went out cast her into a terrible confusion. Sure she had been through experiences like this before, but on those occasions it was almost always her that had thrown the room into darkness, and only after making a mental note of everyone's location in the room, making it much easier to navigate through the darkness. But this time things were different, the alcohol pumping through her system was clouding her judgment and making her slightly sick to her stomach. There had been a time that she could drink with the best of them, but years of being dry, sometimes forcibly so, had changed her and now even the smallest sip was enough to affect her. As she took a step forward she felt her movements slow, as if she was mired in a vat of quicksand. Cursing horribly under her breath Faith tried to take another step but tripped over something and soon found herself falling into the dark abyss in front of her. She thought she was in the clear until her head bounced off of something hard, sending shooting spasms of pain through her head, and fogging her mind up even more. She started to try and get up when she felt a hand grab her arm. She violently began to try and shake herself free but in her drunken state she only succeeded in falling backwards over an overturned chair and dragging the hapless person on top of her.  
  
It felt odd for another person to be this close to her, the weight bearing down on her, pinning her to the floor. She had always resisted vehemently whenever the prison guards has held her down and she would be damned now if she let anyone do it to her now that she was free. She was about to shove the person off of her when a particular scent crept into her nostrils. It was a smell that although she hadn't smelled it in a long while she seemed to almost know by instinct what it was. Fighting back the surprising tears in her eyes and the bile sickly rising in her throat she feverishly shoved the person off of her and rolled away before scrambling back to her feet. She tried to take a step forward again but was knocked off balance and almost sent sprawling as some of the bars local denizens frantically shot past her. Regaining her composure as best she could only one thought kept slamming through her mind, find a stake, fight, and kill the vampires. Her only hope was that she would be able to find them first.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
Wesley had not been as startled by the lights going out as Faith had, as he had the added advantage of being at the bar and therefore knowing where everything and everyone was, most importantly the vampires. Shortly thereafter he slowly made his way over to where he had seen Faith, speeding up his movements after he thought he heard a small cry of pain from her direction. He almost tripped over her before he discovered her at his feet and in the darkness grabbed her arms to try and help her up, his mind only functioning well enough to form a plan for their survival, all the pain, the humiliation, the torture that she had put him through was lost somewhere in the mad shuffle to simply stay alive, and for that he was exceedingly grateful. He was about to help her up when she, or at least the person he thought to be her, began to violently resist the help he was offering and ended up pulling him off of his feet. It was while he lay on top of her that he caught the prison smell that seemed to radiate off of her. He had discovered the smell when he had made a few secret visits to the prison where she was being held shortly after he was well enough. He had used the council connections left him to do it and had found out what he wanted, what he needed to know, that she was somewhere where she wouldn't harm anyone for a very long time and that he could try and put her attack behind him, if it were at all possible for him to do so.  
  
Even though he only spent a few short and brief seconds on top of her he found himself starting to almost enjoy it before she frantically shoved him off, with stabbing pains coursing through his arms as his elbow collided powerfully with the floor. Holding his elbow and trying to fight through the numbness that now controlled his hand Wesley's fevered mind raced as he tried to recall if he had brought any stakes with him this time. It took only a few seconds before he remembered the stake that he kept concealed underneath his pant leg, and even fewer seconds to retrieve it and be ready to fight. The vampires seemed to not have any exact plan of attack; their plan seemed to be more one of disorienting the humans in the bar and then just using their strength to overwhelm them before locking their fangs on the horrified person's jugular and draining them dry.  
  
Not particularly wanting to die that night Wesley acted more on his shock of seeing, and touching, Faith than any real defensive maneuvers. He came upon the first vampire mere seconds after he had stepped away from the bar. The vampire grabbed him by the throat with one hand and pulled him close while aiming its fangs, with the anticoagulant saliva dripping sinisterly from them, towards his neck. He let the vampire get close enough so that he could smell the foul smelling cologne that it wore before he brought his hand up in one quick motion and reduced the vampire to dust with a clean jab straight to its heart.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Faith meanwhile was not having as good a time, were she on top of her game with her skills and reflexes honed she would have most likely reduced the small cadre of vampires before her to dust in the time it usually took a person to brush their teeth, even if she was fighting them in the darkness. But unfortunately for her she was completely wasted and was thereby only operating at around half her best, a fact that although she would admit to herself she would never admit to anyone else. But even a slayer operating at half efficiency and drunk was better than almost any human fighter, even the most highly trained. In the short time after pushing Wesley off of her she had been lucky as none of the vampires had gotten to her, yet, a fact that did not escape her. Then she felt a hand close on her shoulder.  
  
"Hands.off," she growled angrily before she blocked another hand that shot out to grab her and in one quick and clean maneuver flipped the person that belonged to the hand over her shoulder mere seconds before she felt the body disintegrate out of her grasp. The next vampire that attacked her met a very similar fate as it was dusted even before it could lay a hand on Faith, who was now operating on memory, using every trick that she could remember. She expected the rest of the vampires to attack in much the same fashion but was painfully surprised when she felt a searing pain scratch across her arm, drawing blood. "Fuck," she howled in pain and anger through gritted teeth as she hunched down, frantically trying to determine where the attack had originated from, but all was for naught as all she could see was an impenetrable wall of darkness in front of her.  
  
"What's wrong slayer.can't see in the dark.," a raspy voiced called out from the darkness before she felt the hot sting of a knife blade flash across her stomach, sending memories of when Buffy had stabbed her flashing through her mind.  
  
"Lucky you.," Faith yelled back angrily before she bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. Not waiting for another attack she guessed where the voice had come from and swung furiously in that general direction, but all her fist struck was empty air, a feat that did not go unnoticed by the vampire that had heckled her mere moments before.  
  
"What're you swinging at slayer.I'm over here," the vampire chipped in with a mocking tone to its voice before again the knife blade shot out, this time catching Faith across the cheek, opening up a painful gash, and causing Faith to grit her teeth against the pain.  
  
"When I find you.I'm gonna," she yelled out furiously as the blood began to run down her cheek. Not wanting to get slashed again without any knowledge of the vampire, that she decided was most likely dancing around her as it attacked, Faith took a step back and tried to regain her composure. But it was shattered prematurely as a crowbar slammed into her from behind, with what she thought was the sound of bones breaking coming soon after. All Faith could do then is drop to her knees and double over in pain as the small pool of blood at her feet began to grow larger. * * * * * * * *  
  
Wesley had gotten back to the bar when he heard the sound that Faith had taken to mean that a rib or two had either been broken or cracked. He had dusted another couple of vampires, with the last one knocking him off his feet before he had even figured out where it was. As his hip brushed up against one of the barstools he felt a slight breeze go by him, indicative of someone jumping by him. Without taking a second to think, and quelling the voice in his head that was shouting at how stupid this was, he leapt out towards where he thought the person had landed. In seconds he discovered that he had guessed right when he slammed into a body and his sudden weight sent the two sprawling to the floor, with the faint sound of a knife clanking against the floor as they did.  
  
Before he even drew another breath Wesley tried to spin out of the way of the flailing vampire as it tried to get up, but his great escape ended prematurely when he bumped into an overturned table. As he started to get up Wesley was struck in the side by first a well placed fist and then the crowbar that had struck Faith slammed into almost the exact same spot before he crumpled back to the floor in a coughing fit. He could hear the remaining vampires snickering before one vampire, the one holding the crowbar, stood over him and began to lightly tap Wesley on the forehead with the end of the crowbar, reveling in Wesley's reactions. "Bloody hell," Wesley choked out angrily as he dropped onto his back and fought through the pain as he seized the crowbar and in one violent motion shoved the crowbar diagonally upwards directly towards the vampire's crotch.  
  
A sharp howl of pain and agony, accompanied by the vampire dropping to its knees beside him told Wesley that his aim had been true. Before the vampire could recover and fight on Wesley located the stake that he had been using earlier and spun over onto his side, all that before lunging up and driving the stake through the vampire's heart, reducing it to a pile of dust at his side. As he struggled to his feet Wesley could hear Faith staggering to her feet a few feet away and the remaining vampires arguing amongst themselves. He didn't give them any time to make up their minds as he charged towards where he guessed they were, intent on staking the rest of them, but was repelled just before he got to them as someone smashed a beer over his head. He dropped to his knees with a grunt of pain as his vision blurred at first from the hit and then from the blood running into his eyes.  
  
He started to get up before he felt on of the vampires grab his shoulder with such force that Wesley could feel its untrimmed fingernails as they began to slowly dig into his skin. His next action was more instinctual than actually thought through as he dropped to his stomach before he leapt up and tackled the vampire that had been standing over him, with the two of them going down in a heap as from the other end of the bar a small light flickered back on.  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
The sound of Wesley in pain sent chills down her spine. She still did not know exactly where he was or how badly he was hurt, but even though he was the last person that she had ever wanted to see again, for fear of his reaction, she would not abandon him to the mercies of a few shitty vampires that got lucky. With the pain in her side making it difficult to breathe Faith awkwardly began to stagger over to where she thought Wesley was, only to be knocked loopy by a vampire wielding a Billy club. Before she knew it she was on the ground holding her head and trying to make the pain go away. Seconds later she heard Wesley's garbled battle cry and then he and the vampire that he attacked go crashing to the floor after tripping over her.  
  
  
  
Now driven more by the desire to hurt and maim those who had injured her Faith let go of all of the rage that had been building inside of her and leapt at the three standing figures that she could make out due to the small light that had finally come back on. The trio of vampires didn't notice her jumping at them until she was upon them. Having hit her mark perfectly Faith and the trio of vampires should have just went down in a swirling mass of royally pissed off slayer fighting soulless vampires, but with Faith nothing ever seemed to be perfect. And as such instead of falling down the force of Faith's leap propelled the group backwards until they all went crashing through one of the bar's front door and out into the street.  
  
Mere seconds after she and the vampires had gone crashing through the bar's front door Faith was on her feet again, but obviously favoring her right side. The vampires meanwhile growled at her for a second or two before they noticed the bright glare of the sun's first rays as they struck them fully, causing them to erupt in flames and explode into a hazy cloud of dust. It was after a painful moment of grim celebration that she remembered Wesley, and as such staggered back into the bar to look for him, even though she still didn't have a clue as to what she'd say to him and the beginnings of one hell of a hangover were already starting to creep up on her. She hadn't gotten to far inside the bar before she spotted him locked in a wrestling match against a wiry flaxen haired vampire, and from the looks of it Wesley was beginning to tire rapidly.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Wesley had been too distracted with fighting the vampire that had struck him on the head with the bottle to notice when Faith had knocked the trio of vampires and herself out into the street. He had fought against vampires whose strength dwarfed the one that he was facing now, but most of those times he wasn't bleeding badly and starting to grow weaker and weaker because of it. But this was no time to quibble about past fights, because if he didn't keep his attention in the here and now then there would be no future for him, no more demons to slay or friendships to get fucked up. The fighting itself wasn't the hard part as he quickly discovered that although this particular vampire looked like it'd been in its fair share of fights it was apparent that this was probably almost its first fight, and with that knowledge Wesley was able to make pretty short work of him as he finally drove the stake through its heart, turning it into instant dust.  
  
"Now to find Faith," he thought grimly as wiped the blood out of his eye. He had no sooner than done that when he looked up and found himself nervously staring right at Faith, who seemed to be just as nervous. They stayed like this, like two statues frozen in time, for they knew not how long before Faith tried to speak but her mouth had become so dry from all the fighting and coughing that she could barely even say the first syllable of his name. And after several attempts at this it seemed almost as if she were about to cry, Faith cry, the woman that had taken great pleasure in at the time causing him more pain that he ever thought that he could bear indeed looked about ready to tear up, but his trials and tribulations since had shown him that the worst pains are not always of the flesh, but of the heart. Without another word or even a look, as she kept her face turned away so as to not let him see the small solitary tear that slid down her face as she thought of how many nights she had laid awake on her prison cot, running millions of ideas through her head of what she would say to him, the first and most important person that she would have to apologize to. In those night she had come up with what she thought were many great and wonderful ideas, but now, now standing mere inches.feet from him all of those eloquent and carefully plotted out words eluded her, and all she could do was mumble a curse before fleeing out the front door of the bar and disappearing around a corner just as he made his way outside.  
  
He looked around the bar for several minutes, hoping to find her, as even though he was injured and would need a trip to the hospital to get his cuts stitched up and his bruises looked at Wesley was not going to leave her injured and all alone, no matter how ironic the situation seemed. But after several minutes of fruitless searching he returned to his sports utility vehicle just as the first stages of a full blown hangover slammed into his brain. It was about an hour or two later before the doctors had cleared him to go home, as for a time they had discussed keeping him at the hospital overnight for observation. But as per his new outlook on life, amongst other things, he flatly refused to stay there and argued with them until he was allowed to go home, saying his-thank you's- to the doctors and nurses before bolting out of the hospital as fast as his still blood loss weakened legs could carry him, for right now there was truly only one thing on his mind, finding his Slayer.  
  
By the time he returned home he felt as if he barely had enough strength left to lift the key up to the lock and unlock his door. But to his surprise he discovered that his door was not only unlocked but slightly ajar as well. Fearing that he had been robbed he awkwardly reached into his back pocket for the stake that he had used earlier, but finding it long gone he sighed before deciding to just go in and face whatever intruder awaited him. He did find an intruder of sorts, but not anything like what he was expecting, as sitting on his couch with an extremely impatient and overworked, but yet still horny, look on her face was the woman that he had least wanted to see this morning.  
  
"What do you want Lilah," he muttered almost under his breath as at this point he really didn't give a damn why she was there and only wanted her to leave as quickly as possible.  
  
"Nice to see you to Wes.pick a fight with a demon twice your size again.," she said flashing him her killer smile, the one that had in all truthfulness been one of the first things that he had liked about her.  
  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he shot back as he began to feel the effects of the painkillers that the doctors had given him only minutes before.  
  
"Maybe.but the way I see it handsome.you've got a lot of explaining to do.so start talking," she said as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms before setting her demanding eye on the beaten and bloody man standing in front of her.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 2 


	3. Shock and Confusion

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 3-Shock and Confusion  
  
She awoke with the sickly taste of a mix of blood and bile in her mouth. Her memory was hazy at best, with the last thing she remembered being the look of shock, but surprisingly not fear, on Wesley's face. After that all her memories seemed to blur together, she couldn't even remember how she had gotten back to her hotel room. She tried to sit up but a wave of pain in her side and her cheek ushered her quick return to lying down. She knew that she couldn't stay in this hotel room all day, and had better leave before the posted check out time because of all the blood and bile on the floor and soaked into the bed sheets. Fighting back the pain she slowly made her way to the bathroom before being almost overcome by nausea. It took her a while to pull herself up enough so that she could look at herself in the mirror.  
  
What she saw was not what she remembered herself to look like. While there had been mirrors in prison she had vehemently refused to look in one, fearing that she would see the pained face of one of the people that she had hurt in the reflection. She had remembered herself as a young woman that many people considered to be beautiful but she had always found faults in herself, fostering a sense of insecurity that projected outward into her daily life. Now however she noticed that the young woman had been left behind, abandoned somewhere, and that overall she didn't truly look that different, at least in her own eyes, but she had definitely grown up some. "It's why I always acted like such a bitch to everyone," she thought with a sigh as she turned on the hot water. She cupped her hands under the spout and spent the next several minutes reveling in the feeling of warmth on her hands.  
  
She steadied herself for a second before she began to wash her face, taking special care of the cut on her cheek that was already beginning to heal. She cringed harshly and shouted out a few curses as she cautiously lifted her shirt to examine the cut on her stomach. She discovered that the cut on her stomach was much longer than the one on her cheek, and she noted that if not for her suped up slayer healing ability she would have had one hell of a scar across her stomach. She looked closer when she noticed that the end of the cut was just above the scar that signified the place where Buffy had thrust in the knife. She shook her head to fight off the memories as she then slowly began to pull her shirt off, intent on seeing whatever it was that was making her right side hurt so badly. * * * * * * * *  
  
His day was going just about as badly, whereas Faith only had fuzzy memories of the night before Wesley could remember most of it, from the pain that ripped through his chest every time he took in a breath to the lump that was already forming on the top of his head. But what pained him the most this morning was not the physical pain that he had endured the night before, but the look of shock, and possibly fear if not relief on Faith's face. "Probably glad I didn't try to kill her," he thought with a chuckle that he had to cut short because of the pain in his chest. Lilah had grilled him for almost three hours, hurling question after question about him, and for the life of him Wesley could only remember a few of his answers. His only hope was that whatever he had told her he had left out any mention of seeing Faith. He didn't need Wolfram and Heart to know that Faith was out, not just yet, for they would undoubtedly try and sway her to their side, and that was one thing that Wesley concluded that he'd die before he let that happen.  
  
Instead he came up with the idea of trying to gain her trust, and maybe being able to finally have someone to talk to that he didn't have to censor his words so as to not give Lilah any secrets or not to let Angel and the others know how much he missed them. When he had visited them the day before about Cordelia only Angel had spoken to him, while Gunn, a man that he once had considered a good friend, had only glared at him as if he were a monster and needed to be slain. Fred, whom he had to admit he still had a small crush on, could only stare, wide eyed, in shock at him, seemingly unwilling to say anything lest she set Gunn off. And only later had he discovered what had happened to Lorne and Lilah's sudden appearance in his apartment had been both unwanted and a surprise. He still had the dollar that had fallen out of her pocket and resigned himself to use it for something good.  
  
It had been about an hour since his head lackey had left, blabbering something about a client that had complained about the demon entrails that were all over her living room. Wesley had tried to explain to her that he and his people only killed the monster, what was done with the body after that wasn't his problem. So to get away from any possible future annoyances like that he had decided to go out for lunch, feeling as if he was being suffocated in his apartment. He decided to steer clear of any of the eateries that Gunn or Fred would frequent, not wanting a confrontation at the moment. Luckily for him he had found a small diner that was cheap and catered to pretty much anything that could pay the bill. As such Wesley had often found himself spending hours there, meeting demons contacts and picking at his salad or soup while his contact feasted on the entrails of some butchered animal.  
  
What he hadn't expected was to see anyone that he knew there, other than his various contacts and demons that he had been keeping track of. For upon entering the diner he stopped abruptly as he spotted Cordelia sitting with someone in one of the far booths. He bowed his head a bit as he searched for a booth that would fit his needs, those being that neither Cordelia nor whomever she was with would see him and that he could plot out his strategy in relative peace and quiet. Instead of ordering a salad, as he often did, he ordered a hamburger and fries, a meal that he had unfortunately become addicted to while living in Sunnydale, thanks in part to Xander Harris, and to many of the food commercials that he had seen on the television.  
  
He only glanced up when the food was brought to him but had to do a double take when he noticed Cordelia up at the cash register. It wasn't the sight of her that had caught his attention, it was the young man standing beside her and warily glaring at every demon in the diner. He hadn't seen much of the teenaged Conner but from what he had observed he had concluded that he was much like his father, whether that was a good or bad thing had yet to be decided.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
At that same time Angel had locked himself in the basement, pushing himself through an extremely taxing workout, hoping that the physical strain would relieve some of the pains of his still heart. He had gone over every word that Cordelia had said that night many times in his head, each time desperately hoping to remember something that would help him figure out why she had said what she did. He understood why she had been angry with him and the others for lying to her but he had hoped that she would be able to see past that and at least remember something.  
  
Up on the main level Gunn kept himself busy by annoying Fred and Lorne with one rhetorical question after another about what had happened to Cordelia. Gunn was always one to speak his mind, never minding if his words would hurt someone. Fred on the other hand was a woman that was still trying to acclimate herself back to this world after spending so much time in Pylea, but to her credit she had made great strides in doing so, especially with Gunn's help. Lorne was still recuperating in the aftermath of Wolfram and Hearts attack on him to get the knowledge of what he had foreseen of Cordelia's future. Unfortunately they had gotten it all, a fact that had been discussed many times since it happened.  
  
No one had entered the room with Cordelia's things since they had gotten back to the Hyperion and found Lorne tied up and wounded. Angel could only bring himself to stand at the doorway, but then seconds later he mutter something under his breath and then storm off down the hall with his normal pissed off look on his face. Fred and Gunn had pretty much ignored that entire floor of the hotel and Lorne had only gone close when he wanted to see if by some slim chance Angel had gone inside to try and drown his sorrows somehow. Thereby no one at Angel Investigations was the slightest bit aware of the news reports of the fight at Charlie's Bar the night before, when the report had started on the news Fred had gotten upset and had changed the channel to one of the major networks morning programs. In fact Angel could have reached out and touched Gunn before anyone noticed that he had finally left his self imposed exile in the basement. Fred was the first to notice as he words came out in her usual reserved voice. "Angel.you're here.I mean up, out of the basement."  
  
Angel sighed deeply before he shrugged his shoulder and answered as the remnants of Angel Investigations eyed him warily. "Yeah.you could say that.did.did anyone call.?"  
  
"Sorry man, that phone hasn't even made a peep," came Gunn's solemn reply as he slid off of the desk.  
  
"Somebody will call.," was all Fred could say before she gave up knowing that even she didn't believe in her words. Even before Angel had disappeared the calls had alarmingly seemed to taper off, but even when Angel came back the calls seemed sparse, a fact that had not escaped anyone's notice.  
  
"Either that or we'll all be looking for a new place to live," Lorne stated sadly as he took a sip of water.  
  
"Not funny Lorne," Gunn interjected as he glared at Lorne.  
  
"He's right, if we don't get something soon.," Angel said scowling as he shook his head and leaned on the counter, all the while not noticing the figure that was hiding in the shadows.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
She had to try long and hard to remember the name of the hotel that Angel and his group were using as their headquarters. It had taken her the better part of two hours to finally find the hotel, and she had thought better than to just waltz in the front door. So instead she decided to sneak in and try to learn how much everyone had changed in the time she spent in prison so that when she finally did make her presence known she wouldn't sound stupid and extremely out of date. The trek to get into the hotel had been arduous because every time she reached her right arm up a jab of pain would shoot through her side, causing her to wince in pain as hesitate for a second or two before continuing. She had spent what seemed like hours walking around through the hotels upper levels, endlessly searching for someone or something to tell her something about what was going on and where everyone was. After getting frustrated she decided to go down to the lobby and was about to walk down the stairs when she heard voices in the lobby. She gingerly dropped to her knees and began to crawl forward until she was mere inches from the stairs and could have a good enough view of the lobby. She sat silent and still for a few moments as she waited until her wounds stopped bothering her. Even though the wound on her cheek was starting to heal she had reopened it while she was sneaking into the hotel and now a trickle of blood was dripping from it.  
  
From her perch she could study the trio that she saw below. She didn't know any of them and guessed that they must be clients, although they did seem to be lounging around like they were supposed to be here. Faith was about to edge closer when she saw Angel appear from the basement and approach the trio. She listened intently as they discussed their money troubles, but soon her curiosity got the better of her and she scurried past the opening for the stairs and moved far enough until the cautious part of her brain reawakened and forced her to stop. From their conversation she figured out their names, Gunn was apparently the muscle of the group as he didn't seem to be the book learning kind. "Not like Wesley at all," Faith thought as a smile, that had she seen herself wearing it in a mirror she would have thought it cheesy, slowly crept upon her face as she remembered seeing Wesley sitting at the table in Sunnydale High School's old library, hunched over endless amounts of books, searching for God knows what demon or incantation. Fred, the diminutive woman that seemed to almost cling to Gunn was apparently much smarter than the others sitting near her.  
  
Angel didn't seem to have changed much, although she figured that as a vampire he rarely changed anything about himself. He seemed to have gained a little weight along with the fact that he seemed to subtly aged, not physically but just how he carried himself and acted around the others. As she continued to listen to their conversation two nagging questions began to continuously crop up in her mind and force themselves to the forefront. She wondered what had happened to Cordelia, the bubble headed drama queen and former cheerleader that had always annoyed her back in Sunnydale, and where in the hell was Wesley. She knew that both Wesley and Cordelia had come to Los Angeles with Angel and had expected to see them both here, but for some unknown reason neither one was in attendance, and from her vantage point Faith concluded that although the quartet discussing their problems didn't seem to act like it their absence was not something that they were happy about.  
  
Her mind raced as she desperately tried to figure out what could possibly have happened that would have split up the once tightly cohesive unit. She ran many different scenarios through her brain but even when one sounded good, let alone plausible, her rational side, small and weak as it was, would reassert itself and tell her that she was crazy to think that and she didn't think that Angel would have turned against Wesley and Cordelia for anything she wasn't so sure about the others in the room, they were still giant enigma's to her. She was about to leave when an authoritative woman stepped through the doors and into the hotel, and from the looks that Angel and the others gave her she was not welcome in the slightest. Angel was first to act as he looked up and growled slightly, an act that she remembered having liked at one point, and the look on his face darkened considerably.  
  
"Well hello boys and girls.," the woman said with an extremely arrogant air about her, causing Faith to instantly distrust her.  
  
"Lilah.so nice to see you again.now what do you want," Angel said as he tried to sound as truthful as possible but Faith, as someone that had told more untruths than she could even count, knew that he was lying through his sharpened teeth.  
  
"Now now Angel, is that any way to talk to the bearer of good tidings," Lilah shot back with such a self righteous smirk on her face that even Faith had to admit was better than any of hers.  
  
"You wouldn't know good tidings if they bit you on the ass," Gunn interjected before he locked his jaw, into a pose that Faith figured he used often, and set his feet.  
  
"Ooh such hostility, Angel you should keep your eye on him.he just might be the next one of your people to go rogue.I mean you've already lost Wesley, I'd really hate to see you lose someone else," Lilah stated with a very proud smirk on her face as her hands slipped down to her hips. Seeing Gunn's anger level rising quickly Angel stepped in before Gunn said something that he'd regret.  
  
"Wesley isn't lost.not yet," Angel said back with a very serious scowl on his face as he locked eyes with Lilah, intent on conveying his meaning with all the force that he could muster with his powerful glare.  
  
Upon hearing this she was thoroughly confused, Wesley lost.what the hell was that supposed to mean, she had just seen him the day before, he hadn't looked lost then, if fact it had taken her a second or two to even recognize him, for she quickly concluded on a word that she never thought she'd ever use to describe Wesley, especially not after what she had done to him. For the word was.sexy. She desperately tried to shake that last thought out of her head as she cautiously and silently retraced her steps and escaped back out the window that she had used to enter the hotel, all without interrupting the heated argument down in the lobby, with her last thought being before she climbed out of the window, "I've got to figure out what the hell is going on here." But the question of exactly how to do that was not what soon sent chills down her spine, it was however the answer that scared her the most. For to get the answer she would have to get a whole hell of a lot closer to the man that she had been scared to even touch the night before, close enough to stir up all of her old memories, and nightmares. She could only hope that he wouldn't slam the door in her face, even if it was what she felt she deserved. That fear slowly began to consume her as she found the nearest phone booth and began to feverishly looking for his address. She finally found it and after ripping out the page she tore off down the sidewalk, almost knocking over an elderly woman as she went.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 3 


	4. Hidden Feelings and Surprises

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 4-HIDDEN FEELINGS AND SURPRISES  
  
  
  
After his bare miss with Cordelia and Conner at the diner Wesley decided that he needed some time to think, time to clear his head. There was to much going on at the moment for him to file and compartmentalize in his brain, from Faith showing up suddenly at the bar looking better than he remembered to the sight of Conner and Cordelia getting all cozy during lunch. The last thought made him feel like losing his lunch as he remembered all the times that Cordelia had changed Conner's diapers and held him, and now they were possibly.he couldn't even bring himself to fathom the last part. Before he knew it he found himself driving by the Hyperion Hotel, something that he had often found himself doing after he had recovered enough from what Justine had done to him. Since he had rescued Angel from the bottom of the sea he hadn't seen any signs of Justine, only rumors and people who thought they saw her, but nothing concrete, and for that he was grateful.  
  
Shaking the bad memories off he drove around a bit longer and decided to head back home as the sun began to slowly slip behind the horizon. He parked in his normal spot before lazily making his way into the building and up to his apartment. The keys jangled loudly as he pulled them from his pocket and slid them into the lock. He used his shoulder to push the door in as he turned the knob and stepped inside. Had he been fully awake instead of now half asleep he would have felt the cool evening breeze and remembered that he hadn't left the window open. But with things as they were he simply stumbled into his bedroom and irritably shut the window while cursing about how cold it had become in his apartment. He turned around frigidly and made his way into his bathroom before he turned the shower on and pulled his shirt off. He was just about to completely disrobe when he thought he heard something back out in his bedroom.  
  
He reluctantly stepped back into his bedroom for a second before returning to the bathroom and throwing the rest of his clothes into the hamper before stepping into the shower. Usually he didn't take to long in the shower but for some reason the water just felt to good so he let the water cascade over him, washing the dread out of his overstressed body.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
She had found his residence easily enough with the page from the phone book but had to resort to going in through his bedroom window after spotting a police car parked out front. She had only originally intended to go in and take a peek around, hoping to find out as much as she could about Wesley's estrangement from Angel Investigations as she could without having to actually talk to the man that dominated most of her nightmares.and even a few of her fantasy's. Nightmares about hurting.ridiculing.even killing him. She had sighed when she found him not to be at home. She first began in his bedroom, thinking it much like her own, but not a bedroom the bedroom that she had imagined he'd have. Everything was the exact opposite of what she had expected. Leaving the bedroom far behind she had entered his, in effect, living room and had began rifling through the various files on the desk, with a fleeting eye cast over to the liquor cabinet in the corner.  
  
Finding nothing that could explain to her why Wesley had broken his ties to Angel and the others she threw open a small closet by his front door and found mostly coats plus a shotgun propped up against the wall. "What the.when did Wes.," Faith thought with an ever growing sense of dread in her stomach that something was seriously wrong with Wesley. She couldn't figure out where or when the change in her old watcher had happened, had it been after she attacked him or had it happened while she was locked away in prison. That thought began to slowly eat at her as she shut the closet door and then made her way back into the bedroom. She had barely begun her search when she thought she heard Wesley turn the shower off. Cursing under her breath she dove to the floor on the opposite side of the bed and hugged the floor. She stayed there, muscles tensed for whatever the outcome, for what felt like forever before she slowly lifted her head and took a glance over the top of the bed and aimed towards the bathroom.  
  
What she saw was not in essence what shocked her, for she had seen many naked men during her life, but not ones that even the thought of talking to them almost made her sick. Her gaze became fixed on the sight of Wesley taking a shower, a sight that mere years earlier would have probably turned her stomach but now she was oddly fascinated and for all of her indomitable will she couldn't look away. As she watched she kept telling herself that she'd only watch for a few seconds longer and then she'd go back out the window and return later when Wesley wasn't at home, but her body seemed to refuse to move. A scare ran through her as her eyes fell on a long jagged scar on his thought, a sight that sent her feverishly back into her memory, wondering if she had seen that scar the night before at the bar. Coming up with nothing more than a mental note to ask him about it later she let her eyes slowly slide down before she noticed another scar that she didn't remember him having. Although it was a small scar she felt her heart skip a beat when she realized what had made the wound, for she had seen many like it before.  
  
Finally forcing herself to look away Faith slowly walked back around the bed and inched towards the window, sliding it open just as there was a knock at the door. She instantly froze, squatting down and leaning up against his nightstand. Much to her chagrin she heard him shut the water off as the knocking on the door continued. Her last image of Wesley's apartment before she dove out of the window was Wesley's footsteps on his bathroom floor and his front door opening.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
After Lilah had left the Hyperion, imparting on them just how much Wolfram and Heart was interested in buying the hotel, Angel had gone into one of his classic brooding periods, desperately wracking his brain for some idea, any idea, that would bring them enough money to keep paying the rent. Gunn had offered up a few ideas but they were discounted because of the small amount of money that they would bring in. What they needed was something that would bring in a good deal of money, or at the very least publicity, something that they'd had a severe drought of ever since they returned from Las Vegas. Fred had retreated into the office and had shut the door, leaving Gunn and Angel to wonder as to exactly what she was doing. Secretly they had bought a couple of books about string theory's and had actually read them.well as much of the books as they could before they felt like their brains would explode from all of the knowledge. Gunn had been about to tell Fred about how little they knew when she burst out of the office with a pleased look on her face and a twinkle in her eye.  
  
"Angel.Charles, I've got it," she said as she pulled up a chair next to Gunn, beaming with pride while Gunn and Angel exchanged confused looks behind her back.  
  
"Got what Fred," Gunn said taking a stab at asking the seemingly obvious question that Fred was expecting.  
  
"I figured out a way to get money," she replied as she smiled and looked back and forth between Gunn and Angel, trying to gauge their reactions.  
  
"That's great Fred.so what's the idea," Angel said with a small sigh that he tried to hide from Fred as he was still clueless as to her idea.  
  
"Well I was just in there.thinking things through.and it just came to me," Fred said with a small snicker as her smile dimmed slightly as she noticed the fake smiles of Gunn and Angel. "We should hold a costume party slash fundraiser, I mean it's almost Halloween and what a way to celebrate huh.we could invite everybody we know, possibly some of your old friends from Sunnydale.maybe even Wesley," she finished by saying his name softly, hoping that Gunn wouldn't object to passionately because she wasn't in the mood for a fight. But unfortunately for her Gunn did indeed hear Wesley's name and almost instantly objected.  
  
"I don't know Fred, they're probably very busy," Angel said back, desperately trying to not crush Fred's enthusiasm.  
  
"Fred.Wesley's not coming.we still don't know if he was behind what Wolfram and Heart did to Lorne," Gunn stated firmly but yet softly as he tried to control his temper.  
  
"Sorry Fred but Gunn's right.besides I don't think he'd come anyway, he's probably got a lot of work to do," Angel said trying to sound sympathetic to Fred yet agreeing with Gunn at the same time.  
  
"You don't know that.you can't stay mad at him forever you know," Fred shot back with a slightly hurt and angry scowl on her face before she abruptly stood up and walked back into the office, shutting the door firmly behind her. Gunn started to follow but Angel stopped him with a stern look on his face.  
  
"Let her calm down for awhile.then talk to her, and don't let her invite anyone that has a grudge against me, I know it's a long list but I don't want the party to turn into one big bloodbath," Angel said with an impatient frown on his face before he turned away and slowly walked up the stairs, leaving Gunn to ponder his next action alone in the lobby.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Wesley had shut the shower off reluctantly after hearing the knocking at his front door. He had no sooner stepped out of the shower when he felt a chill in the air and quickly donned a towel and then his bathrobe before venturing out of the bathroom. Upon exiting the bathroom he felt the full ice cold blast of air that blew in from the window. He shook his head with the thought that he had already closed the window before he quickly shut the window and then turned and headed for his front door. He opened the door to reveal a rather impatient looking Lilah, who seemed to be in quite a big hurry as she bypassed saying hello and just walked past him and into the apartment.  
  
"Hello Lilah, so nice to see you again, please do come in," he said in an extremely polite tone of voice before he bowed slightly and shut his door before slowly turning around.  
  
"Cute Wes, I don't have time for any small talk, you know you'd think that after two centuries he'd know what was in his best interest," she said with an impatient scowl on her face as she stormed over to his couch and sat down.  
  
"I take it that you went and made Angel's life a living hell again by visiting the Hyperion," he said with a sarcastic smile on his face as he made his way back over to his couch and then sat down beside her.  
  
"Yeah he was talking to Gidget and your friend Mr. Gunn about how much in debt they were, it was a truly sad sight," she said back to him with a smile on her lips and a merry tone to her voice.  
  
"And you just had to tell me this why exactly, I already know of their money troubles," Wesley said with a small sigh as he began to try and rub the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"Ooh someone's a little tense, this wouldn't have anything to do with that whole portal and tentacles incident would it, because I've already told you that I had nothing to do with it," Lilah said now with a hint of anger in her voice as she eyed Wesley oddly.  
  
"I know that," Wesley snapped back probably a little to hastily before he composed himself and continued, "I'm bloody tired so unless this is an extremely pressing matter could you please leave and let me get some sleep."  
  
"I can see that I'm not going to get anywhere with you tonight so why don't we try this again tomorrow night, when you're a tad more agreeable," Lilah shot back with a hurt look on her face as she stood back up, smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt, and was out the door before Wesley could utter a reply. He sat, open mouthed and wide eyed, for a short time before he forced himself to stand up, close and lock the front door and then stumble off into the bedroom before he used the last of his strength to make it to his bed.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
She had left his apartment intent on traveling directly back to the Hyperion and getting, by an means necessary, the information that she required out of Angel, but upon arriving at the front gate she began to feel her once iron resolve start to wane. For a moment she stood there, on the threshold, internally debating about whether or not to enter. Finally after weighing the positives and negatives of the situation she decided to enter the Hyperion and try her luck with Angel, hoping that he wouldn't try and kill her, as a major reason being that she no longer had a place to stay and didn't particularly like the thought of sleeping out on the streets. In years past she would have just ventured out to a bar, let some drunk pick her up, and then follow him home and spend the night there. But shortly after beginning her time in prison she had made the decision that whenever she got out she would stop that practice and seek out that special someone, even if it took her the rest of her life, for she had long ago had enough of that lifestyle.  
  
She almost skipped across the slick stone walkway that led up to the Hyperion before nervously turning the knob and opening the door, all the while biting her bottom lip to keep herself from verbally objecting to her current course of action. She expected to find everyone in the lobby but upon entering the lobby and walking slowly down the steps she discovered that she was the only one there. "Uh.hello," Faith said at a level that she thought was loud enough to be heard throughout the lobby, but there was no answer. Shrugging her shoulders she began walking through the lobby, taking in everything from the round couch in the middle of the lobby to the small office area behind the counter. She finally found the office and slipped inside through the crack in the door before she nervously began to rummage through the files on the desk. She found that most of them were bills that all seemed to be overdue. She plopped down in the chair and had just leaned back and closed her eyes when she heard someone coming down the stairs. Wafting in from the lobby she instantly recognized Angel's voice but she didn't recognize the identity of the person that he was talking to, at least not right away. Soon she recognized the voice as that of the young woman that she had seen the day before  
  
She instinctively slid under the desk and continued to listen to their conversation as they talked about one random thing after another, with most of it being about a costume party that they were planning to celebrate Halloween and to also make them some money. Faith was just about to venture out of the office, figuring that even in her rusty state in regard to her slayer skills she could probably fight off Angel and the young woman, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the voice of the man she had seen with his arm around the young woman the day before. "Two I can handle.but three," she thought as a worry line stretched itself across her face. She was almost mortified when she heard Angel and the other two's voices begin to grow louder and louder as they no doubt approached the office. She held her breath and pulled the chair in tight to the desk as the door silently slid open.  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
For some reason on this night he found that a restful slumber eluded him, no matter how hard he tried. When he had fallen asleep right after hitting the bed he had slept peacefully, but then the dreams came back. The dreams of his former charge as she tried to beat the life out of him, with the dreams being so vivid that he could almost feel the rope as it dug into his skin. He hadn't had these dreams since shortly after Faith had gone to prison and concluded that their return must have been caused by her release and then their subsequent meeting in the bar. He tossed and turned for a bit before finally giving up and deciding to watch some television and catch up on some reading, not minding that he could barely keep his eyes open, but right now he would do almost anything to keep from venturing back into the abyss that had become his dreams, where his nightmares and fantasies had seemingly run together and were now almost indistinguishable from each other. He worked long into the night and by dawn he had gotten much of work done, but he had finally fallen asleep right in the middle of writing a formula in one of his journals and would not be aware of the small slip of paper, that served as an invitation to the costume party at the Hyperion, until much later in the day.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 4  
  
P.S.---I need some help with people's costume, as to what they should wear to the party, now remember Faith and Wesley will have to hide their identities and then of course there's the group from Sunnydale. So any suggestions? 


	5. Dark Dealings and Revelations

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 5-DARK DEALINGS AND REVELATIONS  
  
  
  
She held her breath as long as she could, and for her that was a long time given the fact of her being the slayer, before she nervously and cautiously dared to take another quick breath, thankful that Angel and the others had stopped in the doorway instead of coming fully into the office. She shifter her weight off of her one foot after she felt it beginning to fall asleep on her. For a time she tried to come up with ideas of what she'd say if she got caught hiding underneath the desk in Angel's office, many potential ideas came up but all were quickly discounted as being to unlike her, for she wanted to make a good first impression on the newbie's that had joined Angel. And being found underneath his desk was not a good first impression for the slayer that they had probably been told was more dangerous than all of the demons that they had ever fought and couldn't be trusted.  
  
  
  
The question suddenly hit her of had Wesley told them anything about her, because now that she thought about it Wesley's version of what she had done to him would probably make them all want to kill her upon laying eyes on her. She continued to hide underneath the desk until she couldn't hear the voices anymore. After waiting for a few minutes she slowly crept from her hiding place and poked her head up above the desk and looked around. She could see Angel standing at the Hyperion's front doors; sadly gazing out of them and making him look almost like a lost puppy dog, while the two newbie's were leaning on the old hotels front desk and looked deep in a private discussion, with their backs conveniently to her. Sensing that this was perhaps her one chance to get out of the hotel undetected Faith slowly and cautiously slipped out of the office. When Angel turned around suddenly she was forced to dive for cover and roll under the front desk, and with Fred and Gunn only inches away she quickly held her breath and hoped that they hadn't seen her when they had turned to look at Angel.  
  
  
  
She overheard a short conversation having to do with what at first Faith thought was a joke, Angel wanting to go and find his son. As far as she knew Angel didn't have a son, but with everything that she had seen as the slayer she wasn't going to count anything out, all the while hoping that all three would leave together. Her prayers were finally answered as she heard Angel give out assignments for something and then came the sound that told Faith that she was able to come out of hiding, the sound of the front doors opening and then closing. She slowly crept out from underneath the front desk and dusted off her pants before her fascination with weapons drew her to the weapons locker. She stood there, silent as a mouse, for a few minutes just looking all of the weapons over before her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the doors and took out a short sword.  
  
  
  
With a gleeful smile on her face, one that a person would say resembled a young child with a brand new toy, she began to put the sword through its paces, parrying, thrusting, and slashing. She got so deeply involved in the swordplay that she didn't notice when the Hyperion's front door opened and a rather amused Lilah walked in. For a time Lilah simply stood at the base of the stairs and watched Faith go through her mock training regime with the short sword. But as Faith was about to put the sword away Lilah couldn't wait any longer and began to slowly clap with a grand smile that spread across her face from one ear to another. Faith spun around with a look of true surprise in her eyes and the sword raised.  
  
  
  
"Who the hell are you.," Faith growled, with a determined look in her eye, dropping into a defensive stance.  
  
  
  
"Oh come now Faith.what are you going to do.kill me," Lilah mused with a small laugh as she crossed her arms and cocked her head to one side.  
  
  
  
"The thought had occurred to me.I'm new at this but I'm thinking that you're not a friend," Faith said calmly as she took a step backwards but kept the sword raised in front of her, aiming to be ready for anything.  
  
  
  
"Gold star for you.looks like we got the smart slayer.now you're going to come to my office tomorrow afternoon because there's something that I want to discuss with you," Lilah said with a holier than thou smile on her face as she coolly and calmly walked down the steps and towards Faith, all the while reaching for something in the breast pocket of her coat. For her part this only seemed to make Faith ever more nervous than she already was.  
  
"I said who the hell are you," Faith stated again in a firmer tone of voice as she eyed the middle aged woman walking towards her. Faith started to take a step towards Lilah, sword in hand, but stopped when she saw what Lilah had in her hand, a small white business card with red and black letters. "What's this.," she said with a look of confusion spread across her face as she let her guard down a bit.  
  
  
  
"It's my business card, show it to the woman at the front desk when you come tomorrow and she'll get you to my office," Lilah said with a half smile as she handed Faith the business card before then turning and starting to walk away as Faith read the name on the business card.  
  
  
  
"Wolfram and Heart...fuck.," Faith exclaimed with a look of both confusion and anger on her face before she continued until she was stopped by Lilah, "You know what.you can take your little business card and skinny ass and get the hell out of here before I.."  
  
  
  
"I'd hold your tongue if I was you.you wouldn't want to end up back in prison again.would you," Lilah said with an arrogant smirk on her face as she slowly spun on her heel and eyed Faith with a satisfied look on her face.  
  
  
  
"What do you.how.," Faith stammered out as she tried to put things into place in her mind while keeping an eye on Lilah.  
  
  
  
"What.you didn't actually think that you got paroled for good behavior.we went through a lot of trouble to get you out.and you're out now to serve us...or rather me.you'll do what I say when I say is that clear.," Lilah said with a firm and slightly angry tone to her voice before she continued her way to the doors. When she got the front doors she turned around again to face the stunned and slightly confused slayer, still with the sword up in a defensive manner, before she said, "Oh.there's one more thing.if you know what's good for you that is.stay the hell away from Wesley." And with that Lilah was gone.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
He awoke to the sound of someone banging their fist on his front door. With the gummy taste phlegm in his mouth he slowly pulled himself to his feet as he was reminded that his wounds from the bar fight hadn't fully healed. He made his way over the door and then opened it to find Lorne standing there with an impatient and slightly scared look on his face as he kept looking down the hallway out of the corner of his eye. "Lorne.I must say that I never thought that.," was all Wesley could get out before Lorne hurried past him into the apartment.  
  
  
  
"Yeah well you're not the only one, I still haven't forgiven you for the whole knocking me out before you took Conner but.I had to tell someone," Lorne said with a scared look on his face before he walked over to a window and peered out.  
  
  
  
"But why come to me and not Angel," Wesley said through a yawn as he shut the door and turned back towards the frightened empathy demon.  
  
  
  
"I was going to, but that's when I spotted them, they tried to hide the fact that they were following me but they weren't very good at it," Lorne said as he slowly made his way back to the couch, all the while still keeping an eye and ear open for anything out of the ordinary.  
  
  
  
"Wait..them.they.who's after you Lorne," Wesley said growing more concerned by the minute at Lorne's words and body language. He had seen Lorne scared before but there was just something different about him this time.  
  
  
  
"I don't know who exactly.but I know that they work for Wolfram and Heart.so you might know them," Lorne said as he sat down on the couch and began to study his surroundings.  
  
  
  
"Why would I know them, I don't work for Wolfram and Heart," Wesley shot back with a slightly angry tone to his voice as he sat down on the couch and began to straighten up some of the askew papers on the coffee table.  
  
  
  
"Well Angel said that you and the bitch queen from hell.," Lorne began with a slight shrug of his shoulders as he kept himself from making eye contact with Wesley.  
  
  
  
"My rela.what I do with my time is none of your.or Angel's business, are we clear," Wesley shot back angrily slammed closed one of the old dusty volumes that he had spread out of the coffee table. Lorne cringed a bit before speaking again.  
  
  
  
"Crystal.listen I did a reading on an executive from Wolfram and Heart and.," Lorne said with a slightly faltering voice as he continued to scan the room, but this time a little less intently.  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry Lorne.but why would an executive from Wolfram and Heart let you do a reading for them, knowing your connection to Angel," Wesley said with a less than believing look on his face as he leaned back and shook his head.  
  
  
  
"Okay you got me.it wasn't an official reading.I don't think they even knew that I was there until he was done singing, then he had two of his goons try and grab me," Lorne said now acting fearfully again.  
  
  
  
"So what was so important that this executive had you followed," Wesley said with the conversation now beginning to peak his interest.  
  
  
  
"Because I saw him and some of his friends torch the Hyperion tomorrow night at the costume party," Lorne said with a sigh after swallowing hard and eyeing Wesley intently, hoping to judge by his reaction whether or not he was in on the plot.  
  
  
  
"Wait.they're going to torch the Hyperion why.tomorrow night at the costume party.what costume party," Wesley exclaimed with a confused look on his face as he slowly began to stack one volume on top of another.  
  
  
  
"Why the party that Angel's throwing tomorrow night to drum up some funds to pay for rent so they don't get booted out onto the street.didn't you get an invitation.," Lorne shot back with a festive tone to his voice and a smile on his face as he saw the confused look on Wesley's face.  
  
  
  
"Not that I know of.wait.what's that," Wesley began to say with a slightly unhappy frown before he turned his head to look back at his front door and noticed a small slip of paper on the floor just in front of the door. Before Lorne could say anything Wesley was on his feet and walking towards the door. "You didn't answer my question," Wesley said with an unhappy frown on his face as he bent down and picked up the piece of paper.  
  
  
  
"What question would that be exactly," Lorne said with a small sigh as he hung his head and looked tiredly up at Wesley.  
  
  
  
"Why would Wolfram and Heart want to burn they Hyperion down," Wesley shot back angrily as he walked back over to the couch and was about ready to sit down when Lorne spoke up sadly.  
  
  
  
"They want Angel.simple as that.they've already tried to take the hotel from him more times that I can count," he said sadly.  
  
  
  
"So they'd rather just destroy the bloody hotel.that's crazy.," Wesley said with his voice and his anger level rising steadily throughout his words.  
  
  
  
"Well like that old saying, there's more than one way to skin a cat," Lorne said back with a shrug of his shoulder and a modest smile.  
  
  
  
"I never liked that saying.but how are they going to do it.I mean Angel's smart enough to figure that something's up if he sees a large number of people from Wolfram and Heart.," Wesley said as he scratched his chin and pondered the sinister plan.  
  
"They thought of that.they have some ace in the hole that they're going to spring on Angel.to keep him busy, don't know what it is though," Lorne said sadly as he leaned forward and shook his head.  
  
  
  
"This is not good news.not at all," Wesley said softly and seriously before scratching his chin and humming the chorus of an old tune that his father had used to listen to when he was in deep thought, with it being patterned after one of the techniques that Sherlock Holmes had always used in his mysteries. Wesley's father had originally smoked during his times of deep thought but was forced, although reluctantly, to change when he had children. At first Lorne disregarded the humming but as the visions started breaking through his barriers and flooding into his mind he sat up straight and began to listen intently to it. It was a few minutes before Wesley noticed that Lorne was looking at him oddly, and Wesley had always hated being stared at and given a confused look. He had hated it even back in Sunnydale when everyone had looked at him with disdain and as if he was the dumbest man that they had ever met. But that had been years ago and he had changed much since then, there was almost nothing left of the squeaky clean newbie watcher that they knew, leaving him to often wonder what Giles, the council, or even his family would think if they saw him now. But for almost the first time in his life he really couldn't care less what anyone thought about him. Breaking from the humming he turned to Lorne and spoke up. "What.why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
  
  
"N.nothing.it's probably just static.," Lorne said with a sigh as he shook his head with the intent being to clear the confusing reading out of his head, but for some reason the visions remained and even seemed to intensify until it got to the point that Lorne thought that his eyes would explode if he didn't say something.  
  
  
  
"No that's not it.you're a horrible liar Lorne.just tell me what you saw before your head explodes," Wesley said with an angry tone to his voice as he set the slip of paper down on the table, forgetting to read it.  
  
  
  
"I'm not sure exactly.it's not one clean vision.they're all jumbled together, there's true and lifelong love from your darkest fear, a whole lot of death.not sure whose death though.then a lot of pain followed by happiness and hope.and old friends.with a little bit of war thrown in at the end to spice it all up," Lorne said through the pain in his head as both he and Wesley tried to make sense of it all as he spoke. After he finished they sat in silence for several minutes, Wesley deep in thought and Lorne trying to calm down and not pass out. * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
After Lilah had left Faith had stood there in the lobby, motionless, for she knew not how long before her slayer sense although dimmed from all of her time spent in prison sparked to life and alerted her to an approaching vampire. Cursing out loud she took a step towards the weapons cabinet but stopped when out of the corner of her eye she saw Gunn and Fred walking through the front gate and starting towards the hotel, however they were luckily deep into some conversation at the moment. She quickly shut the doors of the cabinet with the tip of the short sword before she spun around, her mind racing for an idea as to a place to hide, before she simply gave up the fight and raced up the stairs and around the corner just as the front doors opened and Fred and Gunn entered the hotel, still in a deep discussion about something that Faith didn't really care to know about.  
  
  
  
She raced through the halls, thankful that only Gunn and Fred had come in because otherwise Angel would have sensed a slayer and come after her. She tore around a corner and saw a staircase at the far end of the hallway. Without a second thought she took off down the hallway and was up the stairs and off towards the next staircase just as a door was jerked open and Conner stuck his head out and looked around before reluctantly closing it again and shaking his head in confusion. She finally had to stop running when the hot sharp pain in her side became to much to bear, so she dropped to her knees and leaned against the wall, the beads of sweat running down her arms and then onto the carpet. "What the hell am I going to do now," she thought with two conflicting emotions running through her head, that of anger and for almost the first time in her life, fear. Seconds later she was on her feet, intent on finding the fastest way out of the hotel and to the one person that she felt that she was finally ready to face, the man from her nightmares, and more recently a few fantasies, Wesley Wyndam Pryce.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 5 


	6. Quite a Few Unexpected Surprises

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 6-QUITE A FEW UNEXPECTED SURPRISES  
  
Lorne had left only moments earlier, and only after he had to force the green skinned demon to take a knife with him, before Wesley turned his attention back to the slip of paper that he had picked up off of the floor. It was an invitation to a costume party slash fundraiser for that night at the Hyperion, and upon closer inspection he noticed that someone had scribbled a short note on the bottom of the slip of paper. He recognized the handwriting almost immediately as Fred's, but what brought a small smile to his face was the content of the note-Wes.please come tonight.okay.Fred.  
  
  
  
He let out a small laugh as he dropped the slip of paper back onto the coffee table and was about to put his feet up when he thought he heard someone knocking at his door. At first he dismissed it as merely one of the many sounds that his old apartment normally made, very similar to the sounds that a house makes as it settles, a creak here and there amongst others. He sighed and shook his head slowly as he went ahead and put his feet up, with the strong and urgent intent on taking a bit of a nap, hoping that it'd make him wide awake for what likely promised to be an extremely eventful and entertaining night in front of him. But just as his eyes grew heavy and he was beginning to drift off into a relaxing slumber there was a knock at the door, and this time there was no doubt that someone was standing outside his door, waiting to see him. Reluctantly he dragged himself to his feet and trudged over to the door and flung it open with a decidedly angry look on his face. One that lasted all of about two seconds as his eyes came to rest on the figure standing, with her back to him, on the opposite side of the hall. He didn't need to see her face to know who she was, for he would recognize her anywhere. He choked on the words as he tried to say her name, but all he could do is stand there and look at the one woman that he, in all honesty, doubted that he'd ever see again after the fight at the bar. It was Faith, the woman of his dreams, in more ways than one. And here she was standing like a terrified child right outside his apartment. "Faith.," he said finally, almost as if the breath had been ripped from his lungs.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
She took her time getting up to his apartment, her mind raced as she desperately tried to come up with something to say to him that wouldn't make him fear her, which is what she ultimately expected to see. As she laid eyes on the door of his apartment her heart began to race and her mouth suddenly went dry, both occurrences that had never happened to her before. Cursing silently for acting like a schoolgirl Faith straightened up and walked calmly, if not a little hesitantly, down the hall and stopped just outside his door. Words caught in her throat every time she tried to announce her presence. Her hands became clammy and her heartbeat sped up, all as the thought of running away and never looking back began to look very appealing to her. She almost had to use her left arm to lift her right arm up so that she could knock on the door, and as a result the knock probably sounded more like someone clomping by the door with boots on. As she let her arm drop she took a step back and seriously considered letting her attempt at reconciliation end at that, but the memory of all of those nights in prison that she spent wishing for this chance spurred her on and the next knock was more forceful, and finally got his attention as she heard him get up off of the couch and walk towards the door.  
  
  
  
As she heard the door turn the thought of looking him, the man that she had very nearly stolen his life from in her anger and confusion, directly in the eye and doing anything but crying her eyes out filled her with a level of fear that she never thought that she could ever reach. Those thoughts running through her mind, coupled with the thought that if he had a peephole and saw that it was her there was the possibility that he would open up the door armed with some sort of weapon, intent on doing something to her, forcing her to defend herself. And right now the last thing on her mind was to hurt him anymore that she already had. Her fears and insecurities only intensified when she saw the doorknob turn slowly and then the door begin to fly open. But in an almost reflex action she took a step backward and spun on her heel, huddling up against the wall with her back to the door. She would have stayed that way for some time if he had stayed silent, but hearing him say her name sent a chill through her body that both scared and excited her.  
  
  
  
Before he could say another words she turned and rushed past him and into the apartment, with the only sound ringing in her ears being the sound of him saying her name, and she liked it. She quickly found a solitary chair and sat down, mainly because she didn't want to sit on the couch and then have him sit down next to her, she wasn't ready for that yet, to be that close to him. She was scared of what she, or he, might do in that situation and until she did she wanted to avoid getting herself into that predicament. He seemed to sense her uneasiness on top of his own and shut the door slowly before walking over and sitting down on the couch a good distance away, all the while not saying a word only studying her. They both sat there in an eerie silence for what felt like forever before he finally spoke. "So.," Wesley muttered slowly, having to summon up all of his courage just to utter a simple solitary word that he had used so many times before but now found it almost impossible to say anything more. To her credit Faith didn't flinch or shy away, although she still couldn't look him in the eye, instead she locked her gaze on one of the volumes that lay on the coffee table, taking in its dark brown color and even the musty smell it was giving off. She remembered the smell of the old books that her first watcher had owned, after his death she had burned them all lest they fall into the wrong hands, that and she didn't want any reminders of her failure to protect him.  
  
  
  
"So.," Faith finally said under her breath, as she looked away from Wesley, but loudly enough so that he could hear it only as a whisper. He sat in silence for a few seconds as she tensed up, her body and slayer side telling her to get the hell out of the apartment and away from him, but her human side forced her to stay in her seat. The struggle between her two sides ended pretty much in a tie as she started to wring her hand nervously.  
  
  
  
"I didn't know that you were.out.how.," he said with a frustrated and nervous tone to his voice that told her that he was having as hard a time with this as she was.  
  
  
  
"They got me out.Wolfram and Heart.," Faith said softly as she quickly brushed a stray strand of hair off of her face and then stared at her shoes before Wesley spoke up.  
  
  
  
"But why would they.Lilah.," he said slightly confused at first but then the cloud in his head dissipated and his thinking became clear, leaving him with an answer that he dreaded. Shaking his head in both confusion and anger he continued. "Did she give a reason.?"  
  
  
  
"Nope.," Faith mumbled uncomfortably as she slowly shook her head and plucked a stray hair from the pant leg of her jeans. She could tell that he was mulling things over in his mind, trying to come up with the fewest amount of questions from which he could gain the greatest amount of information. For his part Wesley only nodded slightly, obviously uncomfortable at even talking to her. She was about to ask the question that was burning a hole in her pocket, the one that had brought her here in the first place, when he surprised her in a way that she never thought she could be.  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry.for everything," Wesley stated slowly and calmly before he began to wring his hands with such force that she thought he'd break one of his wrists if he continued for to long. The words hit her hard, hard enough to knock her out of the dark stupor that she had fallen into. She had always expected those words to come out of her mouth, but never his, and now she wasn't sure that she had heard him right. So summoning up all of her resolve she lifted her head and looked him in the eye.  
  
  
  
"What.you can't be.you didn't.didn't.," she stammered out now in a state of complete confusion as again in his eyes she saw an amount of pain that she had only seen in her own eyes when she had dared look into a mirror.  
  
  
  
"Didn't what.do anything.I acted like I had a bloody stick shoved so far up my ass that I couldn't see straight.and I treated you and Buffy like children," Wesley said so calmly and forcefully that it elicited a small laugh from Faith, something that she hadn't done in years. "You think that's funny do you.," he said with his demeanor visibly darkening at the words.  
  
  
  
"Yeah.but only because I always thought that I'd be the first.and only one to say them.after what I did.," Faith said with at first a half smile before the most painful memories of what had happened between them forced themselves into the forefront of her mind and she grew silent. She expected him to then come down on her with all of the rage, hate, and fear that she guessed that he had built up over the years, but for the second time in mere minutes she was taken completely by surprise by his response.  
  
  
  
"Forget about it.harboring hatred and fear only breeds more of it and makes you miserable.in the end it's best to forgive.but never.ever.forget," he said, stating the last few short words so emphatically that Faith cringed a bit and wondered if he was going to try and take her by surprise with some sort of physical assault.  
  
  
  
"Wes.I'm.s...I'm sorry.for betraying your trust.and.trying to.to.," she said as she felt the tears that she had hoped to keep at bay until after she had left his apartment well up in her eyes and she sniffled slightly. She brought her hand up with the intent to wipe away the tears before he saw them, but she stopped suddenly when she noticed what was in his hand.  
  
"Here.use this," he said with such a look of concern and worry in his eyes that she thought her heart would break, if it were possible. Reluctantly she accepted and nodded her thanks as she took the handkerchief from him and began to wipe away the tears, hoping to catch them before they began cascading down her cheeks. For that was definitely something that she never wanted him to see her do, cry, and now here she was balling like a baby, and for some strange reason she soon discovered that she no longer cared if he saw her cry. In fact she came to the realization that if anyone was to ever see her cry, truly cry, then it should be him. And with that conclusion all the years of pent up feelings of sadness, regret, and fear broke through the dam that she had constructed around her heart and came rushing out in tears and sobs that wracked her entire body. To her surprise she felt him kneel beside her and wrap his arms around her. At first she resisted, but then gave in and buried her head in his chest and let the tears soak the front of his shirt, all the while leaning into him to keep from falling over.  
  
  
  
And so they stayed like that, the ex-watcher cradling his slayer in his arms as she sobbed away all the pains from their collective souls, with Wesley even shedding tears himself until their tears combined into one solid stream of joint sorrow. They were finally separated by the annoying sound of a kitchen timer. Wesley was the first to do so as he slowly took his arms from around Faith and stood up before heading for the kitchen.  
  
  
  
"Do you want some tea," he said with a calm tone to his voice as he poked his head around the corner and stared blankly at her still hunched over form.  
  
  
  
"N.yeah.sure.why not.," she said with a feeling of a very burdensome weight finally being lifted off of her shoulders. She lurched to her feet and wiped away her tears as she then joined him in the kitchen. She spent several minutes just leaning up against the counter and watching him as he prepared the tea. Even though she tried not to she couldn't keep her gaze from returning again and again to the jagged scar that marred his throat. It took until he was almost done with the tea for her to build up enough courage to ask the one simple question that had brought her here in the first place. "What happened between you and Angel.?"  
  
  
  
He stood in an almost stunned silence for a time before he sighed sadly and responded as he took two cups out of the cupboard. His voice was soft at first but then it steadily grew until it was at its normal tone. "It's a long story.one best left for another time.."  
  
  
  
"Well there's no time like the present," she said with a smile as she stepped up beside him and almost instantly regretted it as she felt him tense up. She was about to apologize and step back when he continued.  
  
  
  
"Fine.here goes.a few months ago Darla showed up at the Hyperion pregnant with Angel's child," he started with a firm tone to his voice before he noticed the slightly confused look that Faith was giving him. "I'm still not sure exactly how two vampires produced a child, it has something to do with an ancient prophecy.anyway we took care of Darla until it was time for the child to be born.but there were complications.," he said with a frustrated scowl on his face as he poured himself and Faith a cup of tea and then sat down opposite her and continue in earnest after seeing the look on her face. "She finally staked herself," he said and paused for dramatic effect as he saw her eyes first grow wide and then squint in confusion before beginning again, "and so the child was born and Angel named him Conner, because in his words it was a good Irish name for a boy." "Time passed and Angel and the rest of us grew attached to Conner, that is until I translated a prophecy that hinted that Angel would kill his son.and for a time I tried every avenue available to me to determine whether or not the prophecy was true, and I always ended up back at the same spot, so I finally decided to do something about it."  
  
  
  
He eyed the woman sitting across from him at the table as she blew the steam away from the tea and took a sip before nodding her head for him to continue. He cleared his throat and took a small sip of tea before continuing. "But a cosmic fork was thrown into the middle of my plan.mainly in the form of a woman named Justine that was working with an old enemy of Angel, she double-crossed me and.," he said with a hesitant tone to his voice as he lifted a finger and lightly brushed the ghoulish scar on his throat and was encouraged when he saw the look of anger that spread across her face. He started up again just as she was about to say something. "After that I nearly bled to death in the park.until I was found and brought to the hospital.since then I've discovered that the prophecy was a lie.and Angel tried to suffocate me with a pillow while I was still recovering in my hospital bed," he said with now a sad and empty look on his face as he sat quietly for a second and took another large sip of tea.  
  
  
  
Across the table Faith could barely contain her anger as she listened to him explain how he had gone from one of Angel's closest friends to a virtual outcast from society all in the span of four short years. She made a mental note to find the woman who had inflicted the neck wound and make her pay dearly for hurting him. Her anger at the woman was almost equaled at her anger at Angel, she decided quickly that she'd have to pay him a visit and sort it all out. Her human side was begging to cry but her slayer side squelched that and began to come up with ideas of its own for Angel, most of them contained Angel and sharp wooden stakes. He seemed to sense her thoughts from across the table and gave her a stern look. Struggling to keep her temper under control she breathed deeply before launching into the next subject of which she was confused about. "Okay I won't stake him.just yet.but you say Angel has a kid now.so where is he.and where's the cheerleader.and who are the two newbie's?"  
  
  
  
He tensed up again at the mention of Conner and Cordelia and for a second she almost regretted asking the question, but she needed to know. "That's another lengthy story that I doubt you'll like any more than the one that I just told you, but you want.no you deserve to know what's going on now that you're out," he said with a sigh as he tiredly rubbed his eyes and then launched into the tale, with Faith now sitting Indian style on the large chair and listening intently to his every word. The story, and the discussions that followed, lasted through a full pot of tea and half of another, which she had insisted that he let her make, before Faith left suddenly, but only after telling him all that Lilah had said to her at the Hyperion the day before, even going so far as to show him the card before she left, leaving him to finish off the rest of the tea, a small feat in and of itself, and contemplate the events of the long day.  
  
END OF CHAPTER SIX 


	7. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 7-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe  
  
  
  
The meeting with Lilah hadn't taken as long as she had thought it would but it had lasted long enough for Faith to have almost dozed off a couple of times, only to be brought back to a state of full consciousness by a visibly angry Lilah, who almost seemed to be able to tell that Faith had been to see Wesley. During the meeting every time Lilah had mentioned Wesley Faith had found herself calling up the memory of her former watcher in the shower, causing her to smile more than once and even snicker a couple of times, eliciting even more angry outbursts from Lilah. While in the meeting Lilah had, in amongst veiled and unveiled threats of a return to prison, informed her of the plan for that night at the party. Faith had to admit that it was a pretty good plan, daring as it was. But for all that Lilah had told her Faith couldn't dislodge the funny feeling that she had that Lilah hadn't told her the entire plan.  
  
  
  
Her first objective after leaving the meeting was to figure out exactly what costume she was going to wear to the party. Although she was never known as to much of a thinker, she decided that thinking was the Watcher's job; she could amaze everyone by what she could come up with when given the opportunity. She began to run many different costume ideas through her head and became so distracted that she almost stepped in front of a semi as the driver had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting her. She barely even acted like she had heard the profanities that the truck driver hurled at her as she simply shrugged her shoulders, gave him the finger, and then continued on her way. She was so into her deep thoughts that she failed to notice when the rain began to fall, softly as first but then it slowly started to build in intensity until it could almost be considered a torrential downpour.  
  
  
  
By the time she noticed that it was raining Faith found herself to be soaked clear through to the bone, and so it didn't take long before she found herself shivering in the middle of the afternoon. She shrugged off the rain for a time before she was finally forced to stop and wait for a stoplight that was taking a particularly long time to change from red to green. She had never liked the rain, for it almost always hampered her in her pursuit of whatever vampire or demon she was hunting. And above that there was the fact that rain had always seemed to depress her for some unfathomable reason. She took a second to glance down at what once had been a dry and dirty street, but with the sudden downpour in progress, that had become a river of water that resembled chocolate milk. And it was at this most inopportune moment that a car flew by the intersection and tore through that chocolate river, showering her with the muddy water. Almost in a state of complete shock she staggered back a step or two before rudely bumping into another person that shoved her away and after a vain attempt to keep her balance Faith found herself falling down into the street, straight into the river of chocolate.  
  
  
  
Cursing at the top of her lungs she crawled out of the muck and mire now looking more like a drowned rat then ever before. Gone were the thoughts of picking out a costume along with any thought of doing any other kind of shopping. She continued to trudge around the city in her misery until the rain started to subside and she found herself standing in the park that was right across the street from Wesley's apartment. With a sigh she made up her mind that she needed to get cleaned up and he was her best chance at doing that as all she had was the credit card, with it's limited budget, that Lilah had given her to get herself started as a supposedly loyal employee of Wolfram and Heart. The trip over to his apartment building was made without incident however once inside she had to sneak around and avoid anyone that might object to her walking through the halls soaking wet and completely filthy. She finally got the right floor and made her way to his apartment.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
After Faith had left he had cleaned and put away the tea cups and other supplies and then settled in and again began to hum as he put his powerful mind to work, desperately trying to come up with something that could help himself and Faith, all the while trying finally in vain to keep the memories of how good it felt to have Faith in his arms out of his mind. No matter how hard he tried they kept worming their way back in. Because of that he had stopped his deep thinking and decided to finish up some work that he had been putting off. It didn't take him as long as he had expected to finish the extra work so he came to the conclusion that he should figure out whether or not he was going to attend the costume party that Angel and the others were throwing that night. A part of him was completely against going, with that part mainly remembering Angel trying to suffocate him in his hospital bed with his pillow. While the rest of him desperately waged battle to go as he finally admitted to himself that he missed his friends and wanted desperately to see them again, even if he had to do it in secret and they'd never know that he was ever there.  
  
He had come up with a few ideas for his costume when his telephone rang. Sighing heavily he picked it up and was no less than stunned to hear a very familiar, but one that he doubted if he'd ever hear again, voice on the other end. He recognized the voice instantly as that of Rupert Giles, the Watcher that he had replaced back in Sunnydale. The same man that had held a great amount of contempt for the young upstart Watcher at first, no matter how hard they had tried to conceal it. For a second he began to wonder what Giles would think of him if he were here. Shaking those thoughts off he tried to sound happy at the phone call. "Giles..what.," he said with a scowl on his face as he tried to come up with something coherent to say that wouldn't make him sound like a child.  
  
  
  
"I understand that Angel is hosting a costume party tonight and I was just calling to make sure that you all know that we're coming," the voice on the other end of the line said a little quickly, denoting the nervousness in the speaker.  
  
  
  
"That's nice to know, but why did you call me.why didn't you call the hotel," Wesley said back with a sense of dread growing in the pit of his stomach as he hoped to be able to keep the conversation as brief as possible.  
  
  
  
"I did but no one was there so I looked up your number and called you.is something the matter, you sound rushed," Giles said with a hint of concern in his voice as the receiver in Wesley's hands shook a bit as he tried to come up with a plausible reply. For a few terrifying seconds his mind went blank and his heart began to beat faster. As he was about ready to blurt something out there was a faint but distinct knock at the door. He sighed deeply and said a silent prayer for the interruption, no matter who it was, and then mumbled a quick response to Giles before hanging up the phone and lurching to his feet and heading towards the door.  
  
  
  
He slowly turned the knob and opened the door, hoping against hope that it wasn't either an angry or horny Lilah that waited out in the hall. He sighed heavily when he saw the dripping wet rogue slayer standing in the hallway with an embarrassed look on her face and her hands jammed into her pockets. He did his best to stifle the laughter as he waved for her to enter as he moved out of the way. She stepped into his apartment without looking him in the eye, preferring to keep her eyes locked firmly on the floor in front of her. "Faith.what.happened," he said with half a smile on his face as he shut the door behind her and locked it.  
  
"Met with that bitch Lilah and then got a nice muddy water show by a passing car.mind if I clean up here," she said slowly with the last part coming more as a shot in the dark hope and dream. A dream that she hoped would come true as she truly had nowhere else to go.  
  
  
  
"You look like a.," he started to say before she glared at him and he took a step back before continuing, "Sure.shower's in there, and there are towels.." He was about to lift his arm up to point towards his bedroom when she lifted a hand up and waived him off.  
  
  
  
"I know where it is," she said quickly before she caught the confused look he was giving her and almost blushed as she hurried into his bedroom and shut the door behind her. "Stupid..," she muttered under her breath as she angrily shook her head and began disrobing on her way to the shower. The warm water felt good against her skin and a part of her came up with the idea of never getting out. She remembered the showers in prison and shuddered a bit at more than a few bad memories of the place, with her slayer strength saving her on more than one occasion. She lathered up the washcloth and soon lost herself in the warmth.  
  
  
  
Back in the living room he could only stare at his bedroom door with a look of shock and confusion on his face. He couldn't figure out how she'd known where the bathroom was as she hadn't used it before she left. He finally shrugged his shoulders and shook his head with the thought running through his mind that he'd ask her how she knew where it was after she got done with her shower. He was about to return to the couch when he noticed something with a bright plastic shine lying on the floor. He crouched down and found the object to be a newly minted credit card for Wolfram and Heart. The look of confusion again spread across his face as he wondered what she was doing with a credit card, what's more one with her name on it.  
  
  
  
He sighed and shoved the credit card into his pocket as he made his way back to the couch and sat down before leaning back and rubbing his tired eyes. As he sat there he listened to the sounds that were emanating from the bedroom, for it wasn't to often that a woman used his shower. Sure Lilah had used it on a few rare occasions but with Faith using it the sounds were somehow different, better sounding if that was at all possible. He tried to busy himself with one of the volumes that he had reread earlier but couldn't help but keep an ear out for the sounds coming from the shower. When he heard her shut the water off his curiosity got the better of him and he stood up and slowly crept towards the bedroom. He put his ear up to the door and heard her throw back the shower curtain and step out before grabbing a towel and entering his bed room.  
  
  
  
It struck him that she probably wouldn't like it if she found him poised just outside the door so he took a step back and walked slowly over towards the couch before he sat back down and tried to clear all the thoughts from his mind. He was just about to turn on the television when he heard the bedroom door open, causing him to almost jump clear out of his skin, much to her apparent delight as he heard her snicker and then break into a short fit of laugher . He'd heard her laugh a few times before but those times had all been mocking laughs, ones done while taking pleasure in the suffering of others. But there was something different about this laugh, in the newness of it he almost missed noticing that he liked the sound of her laughter, her true laughter where she wasn't hiding anything or keeping herself back. He turned his head slightly and cast her what he hoped was a look much like he had given her in his early days with her as her Watcher.  
  
  
  
"God you're jumpy," she said with an amused smirk on her face as she took a half step out of the bedroom, leaving Wesley to have to steel his emotions to keep from leering at her as she was only clad in the towel, her medium brown hair now much darker descending loosely around her shoulders. Although he had spent a good deal of time during his training as a Watcher indoors with his nose deeply placed in one ancient text or scroll after another he had found some time to get out and meet people, where he had met many a beautiful woman. This trend had continued when he came to America to be the Watcher for the two slayers, but much like his attempts back in England he had little luck with any of them. And after all that he found himself staring at a young woman that he quickly decided was quite possibly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, with her beauty enhanced by his knowledge of her slayer abilities and her flawed personality, greatly because it now closely reflected his own. "You just going to stare at me all afternoon or.," she said seemingly impatient and bordering on angry.  
  
  
  
"N.no.of course not.sorry about that.feel free to wear something of mine, most of my clothes should be clean.wash day was yesterday," he said calmly after swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, finally forcing out a strained smile which seemed to satisfy her.  
  
  
  
"Right.I'll do that.," she said with a half smile on her face as gave him an odd look before turning around and giving the door a light tug as she went back into the bedroom. It was a few seconds later that he summoned up enough courage, or stupidity, and stood up and slowly and silently made his way back to his old post just outside the bedroom door, but this time he discovered that the door had not gone completely closed, leaving a big enough crack for him to clearly look through. Despite his misgivings of his conscience he crept closer and peered through the crack in the door. He watched as she slipped out of the towel and walked over to his closet, a sight that caused him to draw in a breath of air quickly from the pleasurable shock of it all.  
  
  
  
He continued to watch as she mumbled her critiques of his new style of dress. Gone were the suits and old Watcher type clothes and in there place was a much more casual look with only a couple of suits remaining. She finally picked out a pair of old sweatpants of Fred's that had somehow gotten mixed in with his clothes and one of his more comfortable blue button up and long sleeved shirts. Satisfied with her choices she laid them on the bed before she stopped and spun around to cast a quick look back at the door which caused Wesley to almost run back to the couch in hopes that she hadn't seen him staring at her through the crack in the door. He cursed under his breath for his actions as he picked up the slip of paper that had been slipped under his door and again stared at the quick message that Fred had scrawled on the bottom of the slip.  
  
  
  
Almost out of habit he located the phone and rang up the private number that Lilah had given him that would always get through all of Wolfram and Hearts screeners. She started to ask why he was calling but was cut off when he informed her that he was going to go to the costume party at Angel's and had a good costume in mind but he had some things to attend to first and therefore out of contact until shortly before the party. She reluctantly agreed amidst a sultry counterproposal that Wesley heard but would not remember later. He mumbled something as a reply before he quickly hung up the phone as Faith exited the bedroom and announced her presence in her own unique way.  
  
  
  
"Hey Wes.this the best you got," she said trying to sound angry and emotionless but he could see the faint signs of a smile that tried to curl the edges of her mouth.  
  
  
  
"You'll have to forgive me Faith.but shopping for clothes hasn't been very high on my to do list for some time," he said sternly as he also stymied a laugh that was trying to come out, and from the odd look on her face she seemed to notice and acknowledge the joke.  
  
  
  
"I see that you still haven't found a working sense of humor since we last met.," she said with now a broad smile on her face that only lasted for a few seconds before she seemingly became almost scared of showing to much emotion and the smile was replaced by her usual emotionless mask.  
  
  
  
"You're not going to last very long wearing my clothes.maybe Fred or Cordelia will let you borrow some of theirs," he said with a small sigh as he shoved the party slip in his pocket and took out the credit card that she had dropped on the floor. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the small rectangle of plastic.  
  
  
  
"Hey that's mine," she started to say with an almost hurt look on her face before she noticed that he was smiling at her and holding the credit card in the open palm of his hand.  
  
  
  
"Yes it is.and I think that now would be a good time to use it to get you some new clothes as I'll bet that you've grown tired of.," he said with a small sigh as he looked her up and down and then tried to continue but she just lightly glared at him and walked by him, grabbing the credit card out of the palm of his hand as she went, and headed for the door.  
  
  
  
"Then what are we waiting for.we don't have all day," she said with a determined look in her eye as she got to the door and opened it before she turned back to him and continued. "Well you coming or not.who knows.if you're good maybe you'll get something.anything's better than what you got in that closet," she said with a small sigh and wave of her hand before she disappeared out the door and started off down the hall.  
  
  
  
"This can only end badly.," Wesley said with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders before he grabbed his umbrella and car keys and then headed out the door, locking it behind him.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 7 


	8. Choices, Surprises, and Unexpected First...

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for those that I create.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 8-Choices, Surprises, and Unexpected Firsts  
  
It was still hours before the party was to start but Fred had been at it even before the sun had slipped above the horizon, saying that there was so much to do that she feared that they'd run out of time. Because of that she'd dragged everyone out of bed with her, Angel joined in voluntarily mostly because he didn't have anything better to do but Lorne had to be bribed out of his slumber by promises that after the party he wouldn't have to help clean up. For the first few hours Gunn had fallen asleep numerous times with the latest time being on the circular couch in the middle of the lobby. Fred was about to rouse him when Angel laid a hand on her arm and offered the advice that it'd probably be best to let him sleep.  
  
  
  
"Fine.but we're going to need his help later.now where are the streamers that I bought," Fred said with a sigh as she held the clipboard close and fearfully looked around the lobby. Angel and a reluctant Lorne were busy moving tables and at first neither said anything but then Lorne shook his head and smiled before he spoke up.  
  
  
  
"I think they're down in the basement.," Lorne said as he dusted his hands off with a less than pleased look on his face as he noticed how dirty his hands were. Fred thanked him and then started to walk towards the stairs but was stopped short by Angel, who rushed by her with his hand up, as if he was a little kid and was volunteering for the job.  
  
  
  
"Fine Angel.you can get the streamers.," Fred said with a small sigh and a smile before she turned back to stop Lorne from sneaking away while her back was turned.  
  
  
  
While Fred and Lorne argued upstairs Angel took the small amount of time allotted him to do two things, find the streamers, something that only took a few seconds and then two to come up with some idea as to what he'd say to the Scooby's, and Buffy. Most of the Scooby's were easy enough to talk to and he wasn't worried about them, but with Buffy his emotions ran the gambit from love to shame to anger to even a little bit of Angelus wanting to drink her dry and prove to Spike that he could kill a slayer to. Although admitting that last part to himself had taken some time to realize as even though he was no longer Angelus he never liked to be second best at anything, especially not to Spike. He picked up the streamers and was about to head back upstairs when the though hit him of how exactly he was going to explain about Conner, and his feelings for Cordelia. He didn't have long to think however as because of his enhanced hearing he heard a voice from upstairs that would have made his heart skip a beat, if it could. He rushed back up the stairs to find Buffy flanked by Xander, Anya, Willow, and Dawn standing just inside the front doors. But what next caught his attention, as most of the visitors from Sunnydale walked into the lobby, was the fact that Buffy hadn't moved from her spot at the top of the stairs.  
  
  
  
"Buffy," Angel said desperately trying to sound as if he was only greeting an old friend, but the look in her eye caused a blip on his danger meter. Buffy started to respond but all she could do was open her mouth and utter a few odd sounds before she bowed her head a bit and turned her head before stepping to the side to reveal a very haggard looking Spike. "Spike.Buffy.what.," Angel said trying to form words that could somehow explain the level of his confusion at the site of his grandchild coupled with the fact that he could smell faint traces of Buffy and Spike's scents intertwined, which only served to further fuel his confusion.  
  
  
  
"Peaches.," Spike mumbled from still outside as Buffy looked pleadingly at Angel as if asking him to invite Spike in even if he wasn't happy about it. Finally Angel relented and, against his better judgment and the worried look that Fred was giving him, he invited Spike in.  
  
  
  
"Buffy.we need to talk," Angel said slowly and calmly as he set the streamers down on the nearest table and then turned and headed into the office, with a reluctant Buffy following close behind; leaving the Scooby's to introduce themselves to an astonished Fred.  
  
  
  
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It hadn't taken her long to find an appropriate store to start buying some new clothes. The whole ride over had been spent mostly in silence as she was more than a little surprised to catch Wesley eyeing her out of the corner of his eye. He never looked directly at her until she had come out of the dressing room with an armful of clothes and handed them over to him to carry. He had been about to protest when she had flashed him a smile that he had never seen her wear before, sure he had seen her smile before, but all of those times it was as if she were hiding something behind her smile, but this time the smile was a true one. In turn he had quickly ducked out of that particular store as she was paying for the clothes, forcing her to carry the bags out, something that she wasn't to happy about but mostly kept it to herself and only lightly glared at him as she put the bags in the back and then hopped into her seat and ordered him to drive to the next store.  
  
  
  
As he pulled out of the parking lot she crawled into the back seat and started grabbing some of the clothes she had just bought and ripped the tags off of them, causing him to eye her in the rearview mirror with a confused look on his face. He was about to say something when she interrupted him.  
  
  
  
"Just watch the road Wes, wouldn't want you to be ogling me and then crash into somebody," she said with a playful smirk as she then pointed back towards the road and pulled her arm out of her sleeve.  
  
  
  
"I wasn't ogling you Faith.I was just.just.," Wesley said with a flustered look on his face as he searched for the right words that wouldn't betray his true feelings at that moment, all the while looking back and forth between Faith in the back seat and the road.  
  
  
  
"Eyes.road.," she said now with a small hint of anger in her voice as she pointed towards the road and finally slipped the shirt off as she hunkered down in the seat, thankful for the tinted windows. Wesley snapped his attention back to the road and held it there, summoning up all of his strength to keep from looking in the rearview mirror. He was pulling into the next parking lot before she jumped back into the seat next to him, wearing a comfortable looking pair of blue jeans topped off with a rugged looking belt and a long sleeved button up jean shirt with the top few buttons undone and a tight white top underneath that left little to the imagination. All this was followed by a pair of snakeskin boots that she pulled on while she glared politely at him.  
  
  
  
"That's a new look.," Wesley forced out through numb lips as he parked the SUV and then shut the engine off.  
  
  
  
"Can't dress like a whore all my life," she shot back with at first a very serious look on her face but then it softened to a smile as she noticed the look of concern and worry on his face.  
  
  
  
"I didn't mean.I just meant that you look.this look suits you," he exclaimed nervously as he quickly did a mental check to see if he was sweating before he then took the keys out of the engine and slammed them into his pocket. She snorted softly with a smile on her face and then replied.  
  
  
  
"I know what you meant.it's just that I more.grown up now and there are more important things than who I'm going to sleep with next and where my next kill is going to come from.you know.," Faith said as she ran a nervous hands through her now middle of the back length hair and pulled it back into a ponytail as meanwhile her mind went into warp speed trying to come up with a reason why she found it so easy to tell the truth when being around him. She finally decided that if must have something to do with since she hurt him the most she had the most to prove with him, but in the back of her mind her human part had come up with another reason that she struggled to keep back there even though she liked that reason.  
  
  
  
"I do, when I arrived in Sunnydale I thought that I was a grown up, and adult.a man," Wesley uttered without looking over at Faith, instead keeping his eyes locked onto the center column of the steering wheel. "But since then I've found out just how much of a spoiled and pampered child I was and truly how much growing up I had to do.just never thought that I'd be doing it all alone," he said in a slow and methodical way that left little doubt in Faith's mind that he was speaking directly from the heart and meant every word. To both of their surprise Faith slowly and cautiously lifted a hand up and put in on his shoulder in a show of solidarity.  
  
  
  
"Looks like we're both in the same boat then, finally doing some growing up that everyone else did way before us.but there's one thing that you're wrong about," she said as she stifled a small sigh and leaned back in her seat with her eyes now locked with his.  
  
"Oh and pray tell what's that," Wesley said back with a wondering look on his face as he dropped an elbow to rest on the center console, all the while pondering her words.  
  
  
  
"That we're only alone if we truly want to be.by keeping everyone out.sheltering our feelings.our joys.our sorrows.our triumphs.our tragedies.our hatred.," Faith said with a look on her face and posture that made her look at first like she were a small child. As she neared the end of her small speech she seemed to be hesitant to utter the last word but was surprised that when she finally drummed up enough courage to say it she wasn't the only one who said it. "Our love.," they both said simultaneously as with their eyes still locked and unbeknownst to them they slowly began to inch closer to each other until their noses almost touched and they could feel each other's breath on their faces.  
  
  
  
Faith could hear Wesley's heart beating rapidly and bet and hoped that it was racing for the same reason that hers was. She had never been this nervous around anyone let alone her former watcher, a man that she had at one time thought would be the last person on Earth that she'd be having these certain types of thoughts about. But ever since she had first seen him that night at the bar he had been almost the only thing that she could think about. She was about to pull away when she felt his hand brush across her cheek, sending a pleasurable chill through her body. She began to tremble as his hand slowly and cautiously, as if it were asking for permission, moved around to the back of her head.  
  
  
  
To her surprise Faith discovered that her free hand was now softly gliding across his rough cheek. A smile slowly began to curl up the sides of her lips as her hand then pushed itself around to the back of his head, her fingers as entwined in his thick hair as his fingers were in hers. What happened next came as a welcome shock to the both of them as they nervously pulled each other even closer, with their lips begging furiously until they met, his rough against hers which were trembling slightly, finally igniting the fire that they had at first ignored.  
  
  
  
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"What's going on with you and Spike," Angel said with a definitively angry tone to his voice as he shut the door behind Buffy, who nervously took a seat in front of the desk and averted her eyes before she replied.  
  
"After I died.and then came back.I.couldn't feel.anything.so he.and I.we.," Buffy stammered out before she bit her bottom lip to keep herself together as she could only guess at the look on Angel's face.  
  
  
  
"You what.had sex.," Angel growled angrily as he forced himself to sit down in the chair behind the desk, one that had he been calmer he would have noticed the familiar scent there. But now all of his concentration was centered on Buffy and what exactly she was saying. To his shock and slight horror all Buffy could do, after nervously glancing around the room for a few seconds, was to reluctantly nod her head and stare at a pen that was lying on the desk. As she did it Angel had to hang on for dear life to every shred of his humanity that he had as he could feel Angelus laughing at him and telling him that he knew that something like this was bound to have happened. "Were you.are you crazy.he's a vampire.," he said firmly as he dug his fingernails into the armrests of the chair.  
  
  
  
"So are you.that didn't stop us.," Buffy stammered out without picking her gaze up off of the pen.  
  
  
  
"But it was different with us.I had a soul," Angel shot back with a determined and angry look on his face as he sat up in the chair.  
  
  
  
"But you weren't there and he was.he helped me to feel again.but.but then it just all went horribly wrong.with both of us doing things that we'll regret for the rest of our lives," Buffy stated sadly as she fought back the tears that threatened to gush from her eyes.  
  
  
  
"Like what.tell me Buffy.I need.I have to know.," Angel said almost in a yell before he softened his temper and ran a nervous and scared hand through his hair.  
  
  
  
"I broke it off when I realized.that I was just using him and it wasn't fair to him.but he didn't take it to well.and one night he.he.confronted me in the bathroom.and tried to.rape me.but I fought him off and he fled," Buffy said almost in a daze as she looked up and locked gazes with Angel, all the while she kept her body tense as she was unsure of what his reaction would be, outside of rage. "Bastard.I'm going to.," Angel shouted with an extremely angry look on his face as he slipped into his game face for a brief second as he jumped to his feet and bolted for the door, intent on ripping Spike's still heart from his chest. But Buffy had foreseen this action and beat him to the door, refusing to budge. Angel was about to voice his anger and frustration when Buffy cleared her throat and laid down the law as only she could.  
  
  
  
"You're not going to do anything to him except help him," Buffy stated firmly and slowly so as to make sure that Angel heard and understood every word.  
  
  
  
"What.why should I.," Angel said almost in a yell as he tried to force his way past Buffy, who after some effort managed to shove him back into the room and set herself up so that she'd be ready if he tried to get past her again.  
  
  
  
"Because you're the only one that truly knows what he's going through.now that he has a soul.," Buffy exclaimed as she fought back a tear and almost whispered the last part as the expression on Angel's face went from one of anger to one of complete astonishment and confusion. His mouth opened as he tried to form the words to ask both why and how but no sound came out and all he could do is stumble back to his seat behind the desk and slide into it. "Before you have an aneurysm after what happened in the bathroom Spike left and went to Africa.and he got his soul.for me," Buffy said strongly at first but as she neared the end she felt a lone solitary tear slide down her cheek.  
  
  
  
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The length of the kiss was as unexpected as the kiss itself, only ending when they separated to take a breath and noticed people staring at them. Reluctantly, and a little sheepishly they slipped out of the vehicle and entered the mall before Faith started to walk quickly away from Wesley, forcing him to speed up his gait just to keep up and not be left behind.  
  
  
  
"Where are you going in such a bloody hurry," he said with a cross between and angry and confused look on his face as he caught up and matched her speed.  
  
"Just getting a few.special...items.and I have to get them by myself," she shot back with an unbecoming worried and nervous look on her face as she quickly looked away. For a few seconds he debated whether or not to force her to allow him to accompany her but then he took a leap of faith and made up his mind.  
  
  
  
"Fine.but don't get any ideas about taking off.we still need to come up with a plan to counteract Wolfram and Heart's because even though we're not working together anymore I'll be damned if I let anything happen to them or the hotel," he said forcefully as he looked over at Faith, who unexpectedly turned back to face him with a merry smile plastered on her face.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry Wes.I'll come back.besides," she said with a sigh and a shrug of her shoulders before she continued. "With what those damn lawyers have planned you won't be able to save the Hyperion without me," Faith said with a serious look on her face as she patted him on the shoulder.  
  
  
  
"That's good to hear.at least now I won't have to do it alone," Wesley said after a small cough as he began to notice a few people staring at the scar on his neck.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry Wes.now that I'm back you'll never be alone again.I promise," Faith said softly with a tone to her voice that made him think that her words had far more meaning to them than the two of them being just the slayer and her watcher. His thoughts were further enforced when he noticed the sincere look in her eyes before she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and disappeared around a corner.  
  
  
  
"This is going to be one interesting night," he said under his breath before he looked up to see if anyone had heard. Luckily no one seemed to have heard as he spun on his heel and started the trek of picking up a few items that he'd need later that night.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 8 P.S.-Still open to costume ideas, I already have picked out what Faith and Wesley will be wearing, but all the others are still open to suggestion. Thanks..... 


	9. Greetings, Salutations, and Tough Talk

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 9-Greetings, Salutations and Tough Talk  
  
  
  
It was a few seconds after Buffy and Angel disappeared into the office before anyone in the lobby found the strength to say anything. Fred and Lorne just stood and stared at the small group of strangers in front of them and for their part the Scooby's pretty much emulated them. Willow took the point after Xander shrugged his shoulders and stepped back to stand nervously beside Anya and protectively in front of Dawn. Spike meanwhile had sauntered over to the stairs and sat down on the bottom step, holding his head between his hands and sadly mumbling something softly.  
  
  
  
"Uh.h-hi.Fred.right," Willow stammered out nervously as she walked up to Fred and slowly extended her hand. Fred shuffled her clipboard around and slowly extended her hand as Gunn began to slowly wake up.  
  
  
  
"Right.and of course there's Lorne.and Gunn," Fred said with an embarrassed and overwhelmed smile on her face as she turned first to Lorne, as he stepped up beside her, and then to Gunn who sleepily stood up.  
  
  
  
"Somebody say my name," Gunn said through a yawn as he scratched the back of his neck and stumbled over next to Willow, who smiled at him meekly.  
  
  
  
"Charles.we have guests.Angel's friends from Sunnydale, you remember Willow," Fred said with a hopeful look on her face as Gunn and Willow then exchanged pleasantries. Willow then started to introduce the rest of them but was interrupted by an enthusiastic Lorne, who seemed to act like the introductions were a game.  
  
"Let me do it Winifred, now let me see.the brooding mental patient on the steps is Spike that's easy enough," Lorne started to say with a smile on his face before his expression became serious as he looked Spike's way. At the sound of his name Spike raised his head slightly before dropping it again and mumbled something to soft for anyone to hear. "Now the tough guy's Xander.and then it's.Anya.and Dawn.right," he said with once again a smile on his face as he pointed first at Xander and then to Anya and Dawn as he said their names. Xander and Anya smiled sheepishly while Dawn seemed more concerned with what Spike was doing as she turned her head and locked her gaze onto him.  
  
  
  
"So that's the famous.or should I same infamous Spike.Angel's old friend," Gunn said with a small sigh as he crossed his arms and eyed Spike with disdain and non surprise.  
  
  
  
"I wouldn't call us old friends.I sired the vampire that sired him.and.taught him almost everything he knows," a voice from behind them said as everyone turned around to see a visibly angry Angel and an upset Buffy step out of the office.  
  
  
  
"I'm sensing some hostilities here.say Angel babe.if you're going to make with the pummeling maybe you could do it downstairs.," Lorne said with a hopeful and fearful look on his face as he looked back and forth between Angel and Fred. Angel rolled his eyes and looked back and Buffy, who gave him a stern look before her look softened as she turned her gaze to Spike, who by now was standing at the base of the steps looking like a scared child.  
  
  
  
"Good idea Lorne.Spike.downstairs.now," Angel said almost in a growl as he glared first at Spike and then turned towards the stairs and headed downstairs. At first Spike seemed to be almost afraid to move as he looked pleadingly to Buffy who smiled and nodded her head. That seemed to tell him all he needed to know as Spike slowly sauntered off to the stairs before trudging down and out of sight.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
By the time they had gotten their shopping done the sun was already well on its descent across the sky. He had picked up the items he needed and packed them all into two small bags, and thus was shocked when he saw Faith walking towards him, her arms full of bags that were overflowing. He eyed her and the bags with a concerned look on his face for a moment before posing the question.  
  
  
  
"Did you buy the whole bloody mall," he said with an impatient scowl on his face as he shifted his bags from one in each hand to both in one hand.  
  
  
  
"I've been in prison remember.I just got what I needed," she shot back with a playful look on her face as she began to hand him packages, but was careful to keep two large bags in her possession. He reluctantly took the bags but kept looking at her with a disapproving look on his face. "You can lighten up Wes.it's not going to kill you," she said with a smirk on her face as she gave him an odd look before she moved in closer and began to slowly lean in for a kiss.  
  
  
  
His first instinct was to pull away but that was quickly overshadowed by the decision that he had made much earlier to try and trust her, so taking the lead he leaned down and met her halfway. The kiss was again a brief one but it was long enough for her to get in a little slip of the tongue, something that Lilah liked to do to annoyance levels. At the end she took a step back before nodding her head slightly and winking at him.  
  
  
  
"What was that for," he said with a slightly confused look on his face as he fought back the part of him that wanted to kiss her again, but this time let the other mall denizens be damned as he didn't care if they stare then or not. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as she started to smile before she glanced down at her watch and gasped.  
  
  
  
"Do I always have to have a reason to kiss you.thought you liked it to," she said with a feigned hurt look on her face as she leaned back a little and crossed her arms before continuing. "But we don't have time to talk, we have to get home and get ready for the party.there's to much to do to just rush through it," she exclaimed with a hurried look on her face before she turned and began to walk off towards the parking lot, with Wesley close behind.  
  
  
  
The ride back to his apartment didn't take very long and much of the way his attention was captured by one of the bags that she had stuffed into the seat behind him. It reeked strongly of leather and many other exotic scents that he had to rack his brain to even come close to coming up with what was making the smell. One, while they were waiting at a red light, he had started to turn around and get a quick look she had punched him in the shoulder and scolded him, telling him to stay out of that bag and that if everything went as planned then he'd find out what was in the bag later that night.  
  
  
  
After helping Faith carry all of the bags up to his apartment Wesley returned to the SUV and took off for the offices of Wolfram and Hart, intent on getting the rest of the supplies that he'd need if he was to carry out the plan that he was still coming up with in his head. It didn't take him to long to get up to Lilah's office though he did receive a good number of glares, from envious people, on the way up. He found Lilah at her desk, on the phone and looking very busy, and none to happy at being interrupted for anything.  
  
  
  
"What do you want," Lilah said with a slight sneer in her voice as she gaze him an icy stare and hung up the phone.  
  
  
  
"Nice to see you to," Wesley shot back angrily with a scowl on his face as he scratched his chin before continuing. "Do you have time to talk," he said a little softer than before as he plopped down into one of the chairs opposite Lilah. All he received from her in response was a glare before she shook her head and pointed out the door and added.  
  
  
  
"Not right now.maybe later.I'm right in the middle of something, see the boys downstairs.they'll get you what you need," she said without looking up once as she began to sift through the large pile of papers on her desk.  
  
  
  
"Of course.thank you," he said as he stood up and did a slight bow before he turned and left the room just as the phone rang again.  
  
  
  
After Wesley had left Faith had started to unpack a few things before her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to do some snooping around. At first she didn't find anything and was about to give up when she uncovered his journal at the bottom of one of his drawers. It was about the size of a large notebook and had a well worn leather cover on it. She flipped open the cover and began reading the first few pages as she took a few steps back and then sat on his bed, pulling her legs up under her and sitting Indian style. The first thing that she noted was his almost perfect penmanship. Most of the first few pages were boring run of the mill days where it appeared that nothing much happened. But she noticed that as she went on not only did his penmanship start to degrade but also the content as well, with the passages sounding darker and darker. The passages that caught her eye most now were the ones that looked like a child had written them, well a child with a death wish. The passages followed a blank space that after reading a few lines of the chicken scratches she realized that those empty pages must have been the time that he spent in the hospital recovering from the attack.  
  
  
  
Hesitantly she continued to read on, noting that at first there was very little written, but then slowly more and more words spread across the page. Within those few pages she concluded that Wesley was trying to work out exactly what had happened and put into words, if he could, the immense sense of guilt and loss that he felt at that moment. Her human part wept at the raw emotions that were written down in front of her. She wasn't shocked or alarmed when she felt the first few tears slide down her cheeks. What got more tears flowing was when she flipped a couple of pages and read how he compared and coupled the whole debacle with Conner and getting his throat slit with his failure at being her Watcher. Those words hit her especially hard and right then and there she made a vocal resolution to make sure that he never felt like that ever again.  
  
  
  
She tried to read on but then came the passages about his time spent with Lilah and how at first he had actually liked their relationship, even if he couldn't call it that. But then his attitude changed to one in which he viewed Lilah as little else than a way to relieve stress and tension. She crawled off the edge of the bed and was about to close the journal when she noticed her name in one of them. One in particular caught her attention:  
  
  
  
*Went out drinking.again. It was a regular night except for fighting a small cluster of vampires and seeing her again.can I ever truly get away from her? Faith, she was there, the slayer that has haunted my dreams and fantasies ever since she was sent away to prison for her crimes. A part of me wanted to walk over and rip her head off.but the other half was struck by how much she had.grown up.for lack of a better word. She had always been beautiful but the years in prison had done her well. Whereas back in Sunnydale I found her beautiful but immature now.I'm not sure what to make of her, only that her level of beauty had definitely increased and possibly her level of maturity, although I don't know how good at gauging maturity I am. I thought I knew everything when I arrived in Sunnydale, but I knew nothing.nothing at all.and I paid for my folly.dearly. I'm torn as to whether or not I should look for her, even after the hell she put me through I am her Watcher.even if the Council did kick me out I won't leave her alone in this world.I won't.I'll do right by her this time.if she'll let me.*  
  
  
  
She closed the journal and put it back in its place in his drawer before she sniffled and wiped away a tear. She hid the bag that Wesley had been so curious about earlier under his bed, with a fervent hope that she was right about what she was feeling about him and what she hoped his feelings were for her. She was about to shove some more bags underneath the bed when she heard his front door open. She gave the bags one last big shove before she straightened up and calmly walked back into the living room. "So where'd you go," she said trying to sound as innocent as possible as she sat down on the couch. The odd look on his face told her that he was sure that she had done something but he wasn't sure what it was just yet.  
  
  
  
"Our costumes for tonight.," he said with a calm look on his face that hid the smile beneath as he tossed her a small bag. By the time she opened her bag he was already sitting on the couch beside him. He almost died with laughter as he watched her expression change from one of excitement to one of confusion, and then to one of revulsion.  
  
  
  
"A clown.a fucking clown.Wesley.what.," she stammered out angrily as she reached a hand into the bag and pulled out a clown nose perched on top of her finger. She glared at her former Watcher who couldn't keep from laughing.  
  
  
  
"You're beautiful when you're angry.you know that," he forced out through the laughs before his side began to hurt. She smiled slightly but kept her trademark glare aimed right at him.  
  
  
  
"Flattery will get you everywhere handsome.but.a clown.," she started to say angrily before a small laugh forced itself through her stern exterior. She quickly subdued the laugh and reassumed her angry look, her gaze flickering back and forth between the clown costume in her hands and the face of a man that she was growing to love.  
  
  
  
"Calm down Faith.these are just our costumes to get us into the party, after we get into the Hyperion we'll put our real costumes on.just in time to spoil Wolfram and Hart's little bonfire," Wesley said with an ever increasing smile on his face before he stood up and walked towards his bedroom. She sat still in her seat for a few seconds mulling over his words in her head before she set the costume on the table and carried the clown nose into the bedroom.  
  
  
  
"All right.you wanna be funny.I'll show you funny Wes," she said with an odd smirk on her face as she firmly placed the clown nose overtop of her own and wrapped her arms around him before drawing him into a very passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened and they slowly made their way towards the bed, although neither one was sure who was leading the charge, they ended up on his bed with Faith on top, still wearing the clown nose. When Faith sat up and slipped her shirt off Wesley rummaged around in his costume bag until he found his own clown nose and slipped it on before he pulled Faith close and gave her a passionate kiss of his own, all the while slipping his own shirt off in the process.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Spike had barely made it downstairs before Angel had his hands around the newly souled vampire's neck, squeezing so hard that had Spike been human he would have suffocated. At first Spike offered no resistance, only showing some when Angel slammed him against one of the walls. A kick to the stomach finally got Angel to back away. Angel recovered from the sudden kick and was about to charge Spike again when the younger vampire with a soul spoke up. "Nice to see you to Peaches.love what you've done with the place," Spike said slowly as he kept a watchful eye on Angel's reaction.  
  
  
  
"I should stake you here and now.after what you did.it's what you deserve.you son of a.," Angel exclaimed angrily as he took a forceful step forward before being interrupted by a grinning Spike.  
  
  
  
"Not gonna happen and you bloody well know it.and you're no saint Angelus.or have you conveniently forgotten," Spike said with a smirk, taking a fair amount of pleasure at how well he was pushing Angel's buttons.  
  
  
  
"I haven't forgotten anything Spike.how could you.," Angel said now with fire in his eyes as he took another step forwards and ended up mere inches away from Spike, staring his grandchild straight in the eye. Without flinching Spike stared at the ground for a second before he lifted his head back up and responded.  
  
  
  
"Still trying to figure that out.but I'm coming up empty," Spike muttered with more a sad look on his face than one of fear or anger. "You.ever.even think about touching Buffy again and I'll.," Angel said now furious as he reached a hand up and grabbed Spike's collar.  
  
  
  
"You'll what.we're in the same boat here.you can't kill me and I can't kill you.instead we sit and brood over the woman that means more to the both of us than life itself, even more than the blood that we need to survive," Spike said with a deadly serious look on his face before he liberated his collar from Angel's fist. Angel desperately wanted to beat Spike within an inch of his un-life but he remembered Buffy's words and took a few nervous steps back before he laid out the rules.  
  
  
  
"I'm only going to ask you this once Spike.so tell me the truth and no snide remarks.do you love her.I mean truly love her," Angel said slowly and cautiously, almost having to manually move his own lips to utter the words.  
  
  
  
"Yes.," Spike uttered with a conflicted look on his face as he took a step forward and leaned on one of the support beams after jamming his hands into his pockets. The pain and anguish caused by this revelation was readily apparent on Angel's usually stoic face. It took him a few seconds to recover before asking his next question.  
  
  
  
"How Spike.how did you get your soul back.in Africa," Angel said finally as he pulled up a chair and took a seat.  
  
  
  
"You know about Africa then.should of seen that one coming.," Spike muttered softly under his breath in his usual droll tone before he picked his head up slightly and continued. "I went to see a demon about a girl.," Spike started to say with the faintest hints of a smile on his face before up above in the lobby Buffy sat by herself in the office with the doors closed along with the blinds, tears trickling down her cheeks.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 9  
  
P.S.-I now have what Wesley, Faith, Fred, Gunn, Lorne and Spike will be wearing to the party, still needing for the others though, especially Giles, but for him I'd want a costume that none of the Scooby's or Fang Gang would know what it was, like some obscure British author or poet that Giles likes but every one else has never heard of the guy. 


	10. Dark Plans and Funny CostumesOh My!

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I create.  
  
Note: I know people want it to be B/A, now I'm actually a HUGE B/S fan but to be fair I'll leave it open as to who Buffy's with and then you can judge by their actions as to who you think she ends up with.  
  
Chapter 10-Dark Plans and Funny Costumes.Oh My!  
  
  
  
Dawn took the time after the hurried introductions to do a little nosing around the hotel and it's grounds while Xander was getting ordered around by Anya and Willow had slipped into the office and set about trying to cheer Buffy up. Dawn had quickly tired of the hotel after she discovered that almost every room was the same and there weren't any fancy ones, so she stepped out the front door and was just about to walk out into the setting sun when she heard muffled voices nearby. She thought she recognized one but the on the other she was drawing a complete blank. Before she could call out to them out of the corner of her eye she spotted two people coming around the side of the hotel. Almost instinctively she leapt behind one of the columns and waited to see who the pair was.  
  
  
  
As the pair came around the corner Dawn was surprised to see that one of them was Cordelia while the other one was a young man that looked to be about her age. The two seemed to be arguing about something and Dawn guessed that it was their costumes as she took a peek around the column and saw their costumes. Cordelia was dressed in a long tight sparkling blue dress with her hair made up so that she looked like a woman from the nineteen forties that was looking for a ballroom to dance in. The young man beside her was dressed in animal skins and wore a short knife on his belt making him look like, Dawn decided, a slightly older Peter Pan.  
  
  
  
Dawn was just about to come around the column and reveal herself when she heard a loud crash and then a lot of yelling coming from the lobby. At the sound Dawn noticed that the young man instantly clammed up and seemed to go into full battle mode while Cordelia just wearily looked around. With a flustered sigh Dawn stepped from around the column, smiled and nodded her head slightly, and then ran into the hotel.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
He awoke to the sound of a particularly noisy truck going by and tried to first look out the window but was almost blinded by one of the last few rays of sunlight. He didn't know how long he had been asleep but when he looked down his gaze quickly fell onto Faith's face, as her head was lying on his chest with her face upturned towards him. Gently he lifted a hand and softly ran it across her cheek before he pushed a few stray strands of hair back behind her ear. He took the next few seconds just watching her sleep, noticing that she seemed more than content and happy with her breathing slow and even.  
  
  
  
For a few minutes he debated whether or not to wake her or try and slip out of bed and let her continue sleeping. Finally deciding that she'd probably need as much rest as she could get he slowly pulled back the covers. She mumbled something incoherently as the cool air of the room came into sudden contact with her unclothed form, causing her to fumble around sleepily with the covers. He started to slide out from under her but he didn't move cautiously enough as he saw her long lashed eyelids flutter open. "Mm.hey.," she mumbled with a big smile on her face as she looked up at him.  
  
  
  
"Hey yourself.sleep well," he said holding back a small laugh as the warmth of her smile seemed to spread to him as soon he was returning her smile. She nodded slightly and lazily pulled a hand up to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "Good.because we don't have to much time before the party starts and we have to be there before anyone from Wolfram and Hart," he said with a smile on his face as he slowly and methodically sat up and made Faith do the same, against her weak objections so that now they were both sitting up in bed with her trying to get back to sleep in his arms.  
  
  
  
"Do we have to.can't we just stay here," she said with her eyes closed before taking a big yawn and stretching a bit. Had someone asked she would have admitted that at this moment, lying up against him in bed with her head directly over his heart, she felt the safest and most content that she had ever felt and wished that it would never end. But like most things in her life it did.  
  
  
  
"I wish we could stay here to.but if we don't go then people will get hurt.people we care about," he said with a soft but stern tone to his voice as he ran his hand through her hair.  
  
  
  
"And we can't let that happen can we.," Faith moaned sarcastically as she dislodged herself from his arms and slipped from underneath the covers and picked her costume and one of her bags up on the way to the bathroom.  
  
  
  
"No of course not.," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice before he followed her a bit and stopped at the door, marveling at how good she looked standing in front of his bathroom mirror, wearing only her clown nose as she began to apply the clown makeup. She had already drawn the first few outlines on her face when she noticed him staring at her in the corner of the mirror.  
  
  
  
"See something you like.or are you just staring for the heck of it.," she said with an impish smirk on her face as she casually turned her head and glanced back at him.  
  
  
  
"I think I could get used to this.," he thought to himself as he first smiled at her and then went back into the bedroom to get his costume.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Buffy and Willow were once again back in the lobby, helping an exasperated Fred finish the preparations for the party, when Angel and Spike returned from their sojourn to the basement. Angel looked mostly angry with a hint of sadness in the dark recesses of his soul while Spike was trying to quiet the voices in his head. Buffy didn't utter a word as Spike passed but stopped Angel when he came near. "Everything okay," she asked with a hopeful yet sad look on her face. Angel tried to smile and say that everything was going to be great.but he knew that he couldn't so he just shrugged his shoulders before responding.  
  
  
  
"No.but that's normal.for us.right," he said slowly, looking into her eyes and trying to gauge her reaction. He felt that she was about to pull away when she caught him by surprise and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. With some reserve Angel slowly returned the hug and for the first time in days he thought he was happy, if only for a moment. But then the moment came crashing down around him as into the Hyperion strode Cordelia and Connor, directly on a flabbergasted Dawn's heels.  
  
  
  
Buffy felt Angel tense up and start to pull away before she picked her head up and turned to look at the new arrivals. Cordelia she recognized easily, but the young man beside her was a complete stranger, although as she continued to look at him she came to believe that he slightly resembled Angel. Angel released her and stepped back abruptly, almost as if she were on fire. She was about to voice her concern on the matter when Angel spoke up.  
  
  
  
"Cordy.Connor.," Angel stammered out nervously as his gaze quickly darted back and forth between the only two women in this world that he had ever felt love for. Cordelia looked surprised to see Buffy but overall just seemed extremely nervous while Connor seemed more like a little kid wearing an outfit that was to tight and waiting for his picture to be taken. Connor hated large crowds of people, especially if that crowd was made up mostly of complete strangers. Add that to the fact that they were probably all friends of his father and Connor looked about ready to fight when Cordelia spoke up.  
  
  
  
"Angel.Buffy.," Cordelia said slowly and hesitantly as she looked at the former lovers first and then widened her gaze until she saw the rest of the people in the room.  
  
  
  
"You look great.almost like I did back then.," Anya said with a big smile, obviously completely oblivious to the overwhelming amount of tension in the room, as she started walking towards Cordelia. Spike meanwhile looked on with a fascinated look on his face, as if he were hanging on every word, every action. Connor eyed Anya with ever growing concern as she got closer before he pushed Cordelia behind him and glared at Anya before uttering his warning.  
  
  
  
"Whoever you are.stay back.," Connor said slowly and without emotion as he set his jaw and his feet, ready for a fight if it came to that. But before things could get any more out of hand Xander stepped up and pulled Anya back until he saw Connor begin to relax a bit.  
  
  
  
"Connor calm down.it's okay.everyone's a friend here," Angel said slowly and calmly with a pleading look on his face before it ended with a slightly angry look as near the end Spike let out a small noise.  
  
  
  
"Who are they.," Connor said still apparently not ready to except any of the people in the room at face value other than Cordelia.  
  
  
  
"I can answer that.there's Red.or Willow Rosenberg, the whelp.Xander Harris, the bit.Dawn Summers.Buffy's little sister, ex vengeance demon Anya, and last but certainly not least Buffy Summers.the vampire slayer," Spike said with a sly smile on his face as he nodded to each person as he spoke their name, with Xander angrily glaring at him after his part. Connor eyed each of them as he listened to Spike and his eyes grew wide for a second as his gaze fell on Buffy. He was about to speak up but was interrupted from behind by a nervous Cordelia.  
  
  
  
"It's okay Connor.they're my old friends from Sunnydale.remember I told you about Sunnydale," Cordelia said with a hopeful smile on her face as she kept on smiling at Connor until the teen seemed to remember the conversation and understand. With a smile on his face Spike began to walk over and by Connor, who stopped him with a hand on his arm.  
  
  
  
"You're a vampire.," Connor said with a look in his eye that was a cross between joy and anger. Spike started to smile but then slowly lifted his head and turned it to look over at Angel, who seemed to want to say something but the words would just not come out no matter how hard he tried.  
  
  
  
"Yeah.I am.what's it to ya," Spike said with a serious and non-threatening tone to his voice as he turned his attention back to Connor. Connor seemed to start forming the obvious question on his lips but Angel interrupted him.  
  
  
  
"Spike is my grandchild.so in a way Connor.I.I guess he's your.I don't know.nephew.," Angel said with a very nervous look on his face and tone to his voice as he shoved his hands in his pockets and then stared at the floor as soon as he was done.  
  
  
  
"How am I his bloody nephew.he's a kid.," Spike said with a slightly cocky look on his face as he grinned at Connor, who seemed to be haphazardly searching for a stake that he didn't have.  
  
  
  
"Yes he is a kid.but he's also my son," Angel said cautiously at first and then finally just put it all out on the line in the end and waited for the consequences to hit him. Buffy was first to react with a look of complete shock on her face as in her mind she feverishly tried to make sense of what Angel had just said. Spike just wrenched his arm out of Connor's grasp and cocked an eyebrow before giving Angel a look of both confusion and surprise. Willow and Anya just looked at each other as if the answers to their questions were written on each others faces and Xander went into deep thought mode. Dawn meanwhile nervously looked back and forth between Spike, Angel, and Buffy.  
  
  
  
"Angel.what.how," Buffy stammered out as she looked over at Angel with a dumbfounded and hurt look on her face as Spike almost exactly mirrored her expression, although he was more confused than hurt.  
  
  
  
"It.it's a long story.," Angel said slowly as his gaze fell to the floor under the weight of everyone else's staring right at him.  
  
  
  
"We got all the bloody time in the world Peaches.all the time in the world.," Spike said with an impish look on his face as he sauntered over to the round couch and plopped down, being soon after joined by Buffy, who was still trying to put things into their correct places in her head.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
The night had fallen cool but clear and that fact only helped the efforts of those that intended to make the costume party and Angel Investigations that night one that would never be forgotten. The teams assembled were experts in their particular fields, from psychics for intelligence purposes to powerful magic wielders and then finally your run of the mill mercenaries that'd do the largest amount of the work. But of all of those gathered there this night held the promise of either the greatest night of her life, or the worst. Angel had gleefully thwarted almost every plan that she had ever had and on this night she would get her revenge on him and all that stood in her way. Visions of what she'd do to Angel ran through Lilah's head as the car that she was riding in pulled up next to the staging ground.  
  
  
  
Deep down she hoped that Wesley would be smart for once and get out of the Hyperion when she put her plan into action, a plan that the senior partners had been highly skeptical of when she first told them of it. But finally they had relented, mostly because if she failed and was killed it was no skin of their backs, and the other simple fact that there was no shortage of willing souls just begging to take her place. From her various sources she had discovered that the rogue slayer that was the lynchpin of all of her machinations had been seen out and about with Wesley, the one man that even though she knew she shouldn't she found herself beginning to have true and genuine feelings for.  
  
  
  
But the pictures that she had received from one of her spies of Wesley and Faith in the mall in a very expressive lip-lock had caused her to advance her plans and even come up with more contingency plans that dealt with now Wesley's death as well as Faith's and the others. However angry she was over the picture Lilah had decided to keep those contingencies in her proverbial back pocket, only to be used as a last resort, if Wesley did indeed turn on her as it had appeared he had. She had instructed the mercenaries to kill everyone but Angel, even the guests. And so she waited, along with the mercenaries and magic wielders, for the party to start like everyone else.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
At the end of Angel's tale Buffy had drug him into the office and slammed the door shut, right in the face of Spike who had jumped up to follow them. Fred and Gunn had gotten back to decorating for the party, now at a feverish pace, and ended up enlisting everyone left in the lobby to help, including Connor who only agreed to help after Cordelia asked him nicely. Lorne meanwhile had retreated to his room, complaining of a headache. With all of the extra help it didn't take long to finish decorating, or at least get done enough for those in the lobby to retrieve their costumes and then put them on. It was some time later before everyone was finally in costume.  
  
  
  
Gunn came out of his and Fred's room wearing a Robin Hood outfit complete with bow and arrow, one that in case of emergency or demon attack was able to be used as a weapon instead of it just being a prop. Behind him Fred exited the room done up like Maid Marian and she quickly joined Gunn towards the stairs. Xander had to be pulled out of his room by Anya, who was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, because he swore up and down that he looked stupid in his costume and that Anya and Willow had picked it out on purpose, hoping to be able to make fun of him. When he finally came out Gunn and Fred had to fight back their laughter as they saw the only male Scooby dressed up like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz. Willow finally exited her room and quickly joined the others, grumbling almost non stop about having to wear the Glenda costume from the Wizard of Oz.  
  
  
  
"At least you didn't get the wicked witch of the west costume Wil.," Xander said with a big smile as he did a mock bow that only seemed to upset Willow even more.  
  
  
  
"But Glenda.she's like.she's like so.," Willow said with a nervous stutter as she tried to think up a witty comeback, but in the end she couldn't and just fell into line behind Xander and Anya.  
  
  
  
The last two to come out were Spike, dressed against his most fervent wishes, like a Jedi warrior and Dawn, who after sifting through hundreds of different costume ideas ended up settling on one that she told everyone was one that she had come up with at the last minute. She slipped out of her room and Spike almost did a double take as she was dressed head to toe in almost exact copy of what Spike used to wear before he got his soul back, right down to the black duster, which in fact was the one that Spike had left the night of the incident in the bathroom.  
  
  
  
"Bit.," Spike muttered eyeing an obviously nervous Dawn with a shocked look on his face as she fell in begrudgingly beside him.  
  
  
  
"Don't say anything Spike.just.don't.," Dawn said slowly but sternly as she fixed her gaze on the floor in front of her as she walked.  
  
  
  
"Now all we have to do is get Angel and Buffy out of the office and get them into their costumes.Lorne to," Fred said with a nervous look on her face as Gunn helped her down the stairs after she initially almost tripped on the folds of her dress.  
  
  
  
"I think that'll be easier said than done.when those two get started.," Willow said with a small chuckle as she and the entire group finally assembled in the lobby. Soon what had begun as Willow's small chuckle caught on with the rest of the group and they all broke into a fit of laughter, even Spike who seemed to find it annoying at first, and only ended up laughing after getting a sharp elbow in the ribs from Dawn.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 10 


	11. Watchers Unite And The Party Finally Beg...

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.  
  
Note: I need to clarify, I'm not saying whether it's going to be a B/S or B/A, what I meant was I'll write it in the hopes that in the end it'll leave you, the reviewers, guessing as to who she ended up with-like that story that ends with us not knowing whether the guy chose the door that led to the exit or the one that had a tiger behind it, as there'll be parts for both B/S and B/A fans. And if all goes well I'll even throw in an epilogue, especially after the little bit at the end that I have planned, but that's several chapters away so enjoy! Giles will show up as will Wes/Faith.  
  
Chapter 11-Watchers Unite And The Party Begins  
  
  
  
The first few guests had begun to arrive before Willow and Fred were able to get Buffy and Angel out of the office and changing into their costumes. Lorne meanwhile had donned a black wig, darkened sunglasses, and a white bejeweled bodysuit and was soon belting out one of his favorite Elvis songs, whether anyone wanted to hear them or not. Buffy was first to emerge from her room, looking like a blonde Princess Leia, complete with the buns on the sides of her head. Angel took a bit longer getting into his costume and Buffy fought back a fit of laughter as the two and a half century old vampire exited his room looking like Captain Hook. Upon reaching the lobby Angel was beset upon by Xander and Anya, both telling one stupid joke after another dealing with Angel being Captain Hook and Connor, who just stood there with a confused look on his face as he had no idea who everyone was talking about, being Peter Pan.  
  
  
  
Spike just leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed, wearing the biggest smirk that he'd ever worn. His eyes quickly darted over Angel's costume but his gaze then became fixed completely on Buffy. At first Angel seemed to take exception at this but then he remembered all the hours that he had spent watching Buffy from the shadows. He finally tore his attention away from Spike watching Buffy and focused it on the guests as they arrived, but he made sure that he always knew where Cordelia and Connor were. He was surprised to discover that in her haste for people to invite Fred had invited some of his contacts, who where comprised mostly of demons and other creatures that Angel only went anywhere near them when he had to. There was Lenny, a wraith like Shrikath demon that always spoke with a lisp and hounded Angel nonstop about possibly coming to work for him, Xanth, a young vampire that was so bad at fighting that Angel had to constantly save him from getting killed by one demon or another, Charlie, a two toed sloth like demon that hopped between dimensions so much that Angel rarely saw him, and finally the one that he had wanted to avoid the most, Juliet, another master vampire like himself that could get Angel anything he wanted, but was so obsessed with him that he always had to pry her arms off of him when he wanted to leave, all the while she'd be professing her undying love for him.  
  
  
  
Buffy tried not to notice that Spike was staring at her but she could feel him looking at her, as if his eyes were boring a hole right through her, searching her every action for any clue as to what she and Angel had talked about. She did everything she could to avoid looking directly at him as she still hadn't fully come to terms with what Spike had done for her. When they had been together Spike not having a soul was the one thing that Buffy had used to tell herself made it different from her being with Angel, made it easy for her to use him to get the fire back, to make sure that their relationship wouldn't go as far as Buffy had gone with Angel. But in the end it seemed that at times her relationship with Spike, odd as it was, was much deeper than her relationship with Angel. She didn't think that she could ever love Spike but while he had been gone she'd finally admitted to herself that her feelings for him were more than what she thought they were, but to what extent was still unknown. Every time she thought of Angel all their times together came flooding back, the good and the bad, and she had long ago came to the conclusion that she'd probably love him for the rest of her life and he'd always hold a special place in her heart. But now when she looked at him she noticed that he looked at her more as something precious that he desperately wanted but had resigned himself to the fact that with the curse that had been placed on him it was highly doubtful that he could ever be with her again.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Giles quickly ascended the flight of stairs and had to pull a small slip of paper out of his pocket and check it again to make sure that he was on the right floor. When he had first contacted the Council as to exactly where Wesley was living they had stonewalled him and acted as if they didn't know who he was talking about. They had finally changed their tune only after Giles had found himself yelling into the receiver. He had quickly jotted down the address and then rushed out the door to get to the airport on time for his early morning flight to Sunnydale. He had only been in Sunnydale for a couple of days before it was the night of the party, and he had left Sunnydale early so that he could stop by and take the opportunity provided him to catch up with the former Watcher, that coupled with what a contact had told him on a late night phone call a few days earlier. That the rogue slayer Faith had been released from prison with the help of a law firm named Wolfram and Hart and was most likely still in the area. Fearing for everyone's safety he had named Wesley as the first person to contact, letting him then break the news to everyone else at the party as it'd be easier that way with everyone in one place.  
  
  
  
He slowly trudged towards Wesley's apartment but kept almost tripping on his costume. At first he hadn't been able to think of exactly what costume he should wear, but then he'd remembered what Willow had said to him about going all Dumbledore on her and had quickly rented the movie and gotten his costume to match well enough. He scratched at the beard and remembered why he didn't have one as he finally found himself standing in front of Wesley's apartment. He checked the slip of paper one last time before he lifted his hand and knocked on the door. From inside the apartment he heard two muffled voices, one that he was able to distinguish as Wesley's and one that he couldn't quite make out.  
  
  
  
The door slowly slid open to reveal a more than shocked Wesley, wearing only half of his clown makeup along with an old shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Shaking his head Wesley invited Giles in and nervously shut the door behind him. "Giles.I.I don't.," Wesley stammered out as he tried to get over the shock of seeing Giles standing just outside his apartment wearing a wizard's costume.  
  
  
  
"Sorry for the intrusion but I felt that it was absolutely necessary what with.with.good heavens what.," Giles started to say apologetically at first but the look on his face changed to one of shock and concern as his gaze fell on the scar on Wesley's neck. It didn't take long for Wesley to figure out what had caused Giles to stop talking so suddenly and quickly spoke up.  
  
  
  
"You noticed the scar on my neck I see, the story behind it is long and I don't want to get into it now.I'm far to busy.Faith and I.," he started to say in as reassuring a manner as he could before he remembered that Faith was still in the bathroom, standing at the mirror putting her makeup on, probably still completely stark naked.  
  
  
  
"Faith and I.what.," Giles exclaimed with now an even more confused and concerned look on his face as he looked sternly around the apartment. Wesley was about to try and make up some excuse as to his slip up when he was interrupted.  
  
  
  
"Hey Wes.you seen my.Giles," Faith said lovingly at first before she came out of Wesley's bedroom and saw Giles standing in his living room.  
  
  
  
"Faith," Giles sputtered out almost breathlessly as it seemed that he were about to pass out, all the while shifting his gaze back and forth between Wesley and Faith. Wesley hung his head and squinted at the thought of Faith coming out of the bedroom naked to find him talking to Giles. When he finally summoned up the courage to turn around he was only half relieved to see that although she wasn't naked Faith wasn't far from it, clad only in one of his old shirts that barely hung low enough.  
  
  
  
"Shit," Faith shouted nervously as she quickly stepped back into Wesley's bedroom and shut the door behind her, with her face redder than the rubber nose that she was wearing. Wesley stayed staring at the doorway for a few seconds as he furiously began to run different scenarios through his mind, ranging from telling Giles everything to denying as much as possible.  
  
  
  
"Wesley.what is going on here.what is Faith doing here.half bloody dressed.," Giles said a little less shocked but now a little angry as Wesley finally turned around with his shoulders slumped.  
  
  
  
"Calm down Giles.everything's fine," Wesley began slowly, figuring out the words to say mere seconds before he said them.  
  
  
  
"Everything is not bloody fine.she tried to kill you remember.along with the rest of us," Giles said now almost furious as he glared at Wesley, who stared at the floor rather than looking the old Watcher in the eye.  
  
  
  
"It's true.everything's fine.well almost.," Faith said slowly and nervously as she came back out of the bedroom and walked to Wesley's side, leaning her head on his shoulder. Wesley looked down and was greatly relieved to see that she had slipped on a pair of sweatpants. The size of Giles' eyes only widened as he noticed how comfortable Wesley and Faith seemed around each other.  
  
  
  
"Have you two gone completely insane.what.," Giles said almost in a shout as he looked like he might flip out at any moment.  
  
  
  
"Easy Rupert, calm down before ya have a heart attack or somethin.I'll tell ya what happened," Faith said softly with a few faint hints of a smile on her face as she sat down on the couch and pulled Wesley down beside her, now with her arm interlocked with his. "That bitch Lilah from Wolfram and Hart got me out of prison to help her royally screw Angel and his friends over, but then I bumped into Wesley.we talked.we cried," she said in an almost excited manner before she got to the end and became suddenly solemn and turned away, a tear trying to force its way onto her cheek. All during her short speech Giles sat in silence, looking back and forth between the two, desperately trying to determine exactly what was going on in front of him.  
  
  
  
"But why are you here.why didn't you," Giles asked quickly as he, out of habit, slipped his glasses off of his face and began to clean then with a white cloth that he took out of one of his pockets.  
  
  
  
"Why didn't I run back to Angel.well I did.in a way.but he was busy and there were those two new people there.and Wesley wasn't.something was wrong, so I came to see Wes here.and one thing led to another.," Faith said now more clearly as she interlocked hers and Wesley's fingers.  
  
  
  
"I don't think I like where this is going.," Giles said with a fearful and worried look on his face as he hung his head slightly and began to nervously shake it.  
  
  
  
"All I'll say is that Faith and I have a plan to stop Lilah so you we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Angel or Buffy anything about us.I mean our plan," Wesley said nervously as it took him a second or two after he finished talking to realize his error. Giles caught the error instantly and eyed the two for a second before his eyes again grew large and he seemed to get all flustered.  
  
  
  
"Us.you don't mean.but," Giles said at first with a joking smile that melted away in seconds as he noticed how neither Faith nor Wesley would look at him, only stare into each others eyes as if they were two lovers that had just been caught in the act, which in fact was not to far removed from the truth. Faith finally turned and looked at him sheepishly for a second or two before turning her attention back to a spot on the far wall. Neither one of the two had to say a word for him to realize what had happened between the former watcher and the rogue slayer.  
  
  
  
"That's a topic of discussion for another date and time Giles.we really need to finish up here and then get to the party.if we're going to stop Lilah," Wesley said finally only after nervously clearing his throat.  
  
  
  
"Indeed.but now I must hurry to the Hyperion and tell Buffy and Angel, if there's going to be an attack during the party they should be told about it," Giles said with his mind moving faster than his mouth as he stood up hastily and began to make his way towards the door before Faith's words stopped him.  
  
  
  
"No.you can't tell B or Angel.don't you see Giles.we have a chance here.a chance to remove a huge threat.and we can't.," she exclaimed slowly and seriously as she pulled away from Wesley and stood up before taking a step towards Giles, who had stopped and turned around at her words.  
  
  
  
"You two then plan to take Lilah and her forces on alone.don't you think that's being a little.presumptuous," Giles said with an unsure frown on his face and a hand in one of his pockets.  
  
  
  
"You're probably right, but we feel that the less people know the better, if everything goes according to plan then we'll stop Lilah in time to enjoy the party with everyone else.," Wesley said cautiously as he stood up next to Faith and laid a hand on her shoulder.  
  
  
  
"And what happens if you fail in your mission," Giles shot back softly with a less than pleased look on his face as he nervously adjusted his glasses.  
  
  
  
"We won't fail.simple as that.," Faith said with a stern and serious look on her face as she backed up against Wesley and put her right hand over Wesley's, leaving Giles with little doubt that she meant every word.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Hey Buff.nice costume.no Princess Leia in her slave girl outfit.," Xander asked with a wide grin on his face as he stepped up next to Buffy and picked up a cup of punch, all the while Buffy eyed him wearily while slowly sipping a small bit of punch.  
  
  
  
"I thought about it.but then I remembered that Spike and Angel would be here and I didn't think it'd be to smart.," Buffy said solemnly with a sad frown on her face as she then drained the last bit of punch from her cup and threw it in the nearby trash can. Xander was about to reply when an exasperated Fred came up and poured more punch into the bowl. "Everything okay Fred.," Buffy asked trying to change the subject from her attire and how her two ex-lovers.  
  
  
  
"Fine.sure everything's fine.Lorne's singing off key.nobody's dancing.the donations bowl only has some loose change in it.everybody looks sad.and Wesley isn't here yet.," Fred said sourly as she stopped pouring and put the jug down on the table.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry Fred I'm sure everything will pick up pretty soon," Buffy said with a reassuring smile as she patted Fred on the shoulder.  
  
  
  
"Speaking of Wes the wuss.where is he.or does Halloween scare him to much.," Xander said sticking his chest out and trying to act all macho, but in the end it only made him look more and more like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz.  
  
  
  
"I don't know where he is.I sent him and invitation.and from what I've seen he got the courage that you're lacking," Fred said sadly at first before her demeanor almost changed to vindictive or angry as she glared at Xander and then stormed off, leaving Xander to gasp in shock and Buffy to stifle a fit of laughter at the sight.  
  
  
  
"Who are you supposed to be," Connor said gruffly from behind Buffy as he returned the glare that he received form Xander.  
  
  
  
"Huh.oh Connor.I'm Princess Leia.from Star Wars.ya know.," Buffy stammered out with a nervous smile before she noticed that Connor was still confused. "It's from a really popular movie that came out a long time ago.," she finished with an almost embarrassed and frumpy frown on her face.  
  
  
  
"In a galaxy far, far away," Xander said finishing the quote and seeming quite proud of himself. Connor was about to say something when Cordelia, who had crossed the floor in such a fashion as to avoid making eye contact with Angel, stepped up beside him.  
  
  
  
"Buffy.you look great.and Xander.well.what can I say but.it's you," Cordelia said nervously with a forced smile on her face as she first looked at Buffy and then to Xander.  
  
  
  
"Thanks Cordelia.you look great to.right Xander," Buffy said slowly as she looked back and forth between Xander and Cordelia, as if waiting for Xander to nod in agreement.  
  
  
  
"Yep.great look Cordy.you to.uh Connor," Xander said quickly before he picked up a cup of punch and started drinking it. The quartet at the punch bowl exchanged a few more pleasantries but anyone at the party could easily have seen their reluctance and how nervous they all were.  
  
  
  
Willow ended up getting into a conversation about Pylea with Fred just as a new group of guests began to arrive. Fred excused herself for a second and went to greet the new guests, allowing a nervous Angel to make his way over to Willow. It took her a second or two to realize that Angel was beside her. "Angel.oh uh hi.," Willow stammered out in her usual way with a smile as she looked up at the nervous vampire in front of her. Angel responded with a smile and a small nod of his head before he nervously asked his first question.  
  
  
  
"Willow.do you mind if I ask you a few questions.about.," Angel sputtered out as his eyes stayed away from looking at Willow and instead scanned the lobby to make sure that no one was looking at them.  
  
  
  
"About Buffy and Spike.or just one of them individually.nope.shoot," Willow said with a helpful smile on her face.  
  
  
  
"Both.Buffy told me what happened after she died and came back but.," he said nervously as he and Willow took a few steps back and sat down in a couple of nearby chairs.  
  
  
  
"You wanna know if either one of them left anything out right.and see if I can shed some light on some things that you still don't understand.like how after everything that Spike did to her Buffy could feel anything other than hate towards him," Willow shot back with a wink and a soft elbow to Angel's ribs.  
  
  
  
"Exactly.how did they ever get close enough that Buffy would.sleep with him.she told me that she used him to feel again.but I got the feeling that it was more than that.," Angel mumbled with one eye on the crowd and the other on Willow.  
  
  
  
"Well I'll tell you this.during the summer that Buffy was.gone.almost every night Spike stayed with Dawn.who saw him almost as a big brother.someone like Buffy that she could talk to.he was there.guarding her.keeping her company.grieving with hear.he'd walk around the house all night with a sword, ready for anything that dared to attack any of us in the house.either that or he'd be at Buffy's grave crying his eyes out," Willow said starting out with a dour look on her face as she cast Angel a quick look before turning her attention out onto the floor of the lobby and to where Spike was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs with his eyes locked onto Buffy. "And after she came back he was the only one that seemed to understand her.she leave for a while.tell us she had to go pick up some milk or something, even though we had plenty in the fridge, and she'd go and see him.they'd talk sometimes for hours.about everything, I soon got the feeling that no matter how creepy it was it did her good to get things off of her chest like that.have someone to talk to.probably also why she always sent Dawn to Spike's crypt for him to watch her, even after what happened in the bathroom," she finished with a small tear cascading down her cheek, one that Angel was quick to wipe away before he cautiously put his arm around her.  
  
  
  
"See.she didn't tell me any of that.but after what Spike did why would she send Dawn.," Angel said now completely confused as he tried to work things out in his head but soon discovered that he wasn't having much luck.  
  
  
  
"I don't know.but even after Spike left that night I could see that even though she was beyond furious at him.she was also mad at herself, she hated herself for what she did to him even more than him for what he did to her.even after he left she never took his name off of the list to keep him from having free access to the house, she never asked Anya to do anything to him.even though she had every right to," Willow said slowly and calmly as she felt some pride in the fact that Angel seemed to be hanging on every word. "You wanna know what I think," she said quickly before Angel could say anything.  
  
  
  
"Fine.go ahead.tell me.what do you think," Angel said now almost completely lost in trying to keep everything straight.  
  
  
  
"I think that the reason she never did any of those things to him was the same reason that she never did anything like that to you.I think that even though she hasn't admitted it to herself yet she's head over heels in love with him.just like she was.is.with you, and that's why she's so nervous tonight.she doesn't want to hurt either one of you.but on the other hand.well.I think you get the idea," Willow said with a contemplative frown on her face as she slowly looked back and forth between Angel, Spike, and Buffy.  
  
  
  
"So then you believe Spike.that he's in love with her.he's not trying to pull a fast one on us.," Angel said now scowling furiously as he idly scratched his chin.  
  
  
  
"His love for Buffy isn't a lie.just like yours isn't.you two love her.anyone can see it, the three of you along with Cordelia, since it's obvious how you feel about her, and Connor should appear on Jerry Springer.or Oprah.yeah that'd be fun to watch," Willow said with a wistful look in her eye as she smiled and looked over at Angel.  
  
  
  
"Yeah.you're probably right.still doesn't make tonight any easier," he said softly as he shook his head and stared out at Buffy.  
  
  
  
"Of course I'm right.I'm always right.well except for the whole going all Dark Phoenix and killing people thing," Willow said back with a big smile before she quickly changed to a more subdued look.  
  
  
  
"When did you get all philosophical on me.," Angel said with a small smile as he gave Willow a one armed hug.  
  
  
  
"Beats me.," Willow said back with a sheepish smile as she patted Angel on the back as outside in the street a familiar SUV pulled up across the street from the Hyperion and a wizard and two clowns got out and began to make their way towards the old hotel.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 11 


	12. Heartbreak and Heartache, and Otherwise

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the new ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 12 -Heartbreak and Heartache, and Otherwise  
  
  
  
The walk across the street to the Hyperion didn't take as long as he had anticipated and hoped for; partially because at the time they arrived traffic was light. After a great deal more convincing Giles had finally agreed to the plan, and in the end had forced the rogue watcher and her former watcher to change a few aspects of their plan. Giles had agreed to not tell anyone but in exchange would be kept up to date on anything that happened, so that it would be easier for him to alert the others. Wesley had picked out the costumes well, with the red and blue wigs that they were wearing, along with all of the clown makeup and the baggy clown outfits, no one would be able to even come close to recognizing them until they were good and ready for their identities to be known.  
  
  
  
They slipped in easy enough, using the fact that at the time they entered Lorne had dimmed the lights and put on a slow song, and through the low light Giles was surprised to see Angel dancing with Buffy, but was quick to notice the dour form of Spike watching sadly from the wings. Upon closer inspection he was dumbfounded to see that Angel and Buffy were doing more than dancing, in fact they looked like they were kissing. Giles moved closer and discovered that they were indeed kissing, seemingly lost in the moment, a moment that didn't end at the end of the song in which they were dancing to.  
  
  
  
When they finally stopped kissing they smiled at each other for a second or two before they began to look around sheepishly, and almost instantly Buffy regretted ever looking around. The look on Spike's face made her feel as if someone had taken a stake and driven it straight through her own heart, and had it just been her and Spike tears might have fallen. She hesitated a second as the smile slipped instantly from her face before she turned back to Angel, who was himself being stared down by a very hurt and angry Cordelia, with an equally angry Connor by her side. Buffy couldn't determine what seemed to hurt Angel more, the look on Cordelia's face or the fact that as she turned and disappeared through one of the many doorways leading out of the lobby that it was Connor seeking to comfort her and not him. As if on cue Lorne brought down the lights again and put on a good, but loud, rock song, hoping to cover up the obvious uncomfortable situation. Just as the light dimmed back down Buffy looked back to where Spike had been sitting only to see a saddened Willow, Xander, and especially Dawn, gazing at a slowly swinging door. As a tear forced itself down her cheek Buffy looked back to Angel but he was gone, rushing towards the doorway that Cordelia and Connor had disappeared through. With a heavy heart she turned away and went in search of Spike.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Walking into the lobby Wesley had all but ignored Giles' actions, save for only a casual glance. Luckily the old watchers attention seemed drawn to a couple dancing and kissing on the dance floor. Wesley was about to not give the couple another thought when the lights came up and he saw who it was. He knew well how Angel still loved Buffy but by personal experience he had also noticed the growing connection between Angel and Cordelia. Instantly he scanned the crowd until he found Cordelia, standing with Connor at her side out in the fringe beside the stairs. He barely had time to look back to Angel and Buffy before out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Cordelia and Connor quickly leaving the room and Angel's pained reaction. He barely noticed Buffy's seemingly endless moment of indecision. But his suspicions about how deep Angel's feelings for Cordelia went ended when Angel tore off after her, oblivious to those in front of him, even garnering a few coarse reactions and angry looks. A part of him wanted to go and make sure that Cordelia was alright, as there was still that small sliver of his being that loved her as more than just a friend, but a hand on his arm stopped him.  
  
  
  
"Hey Wes.B doesn't look so good.maybe I should go talk to her.get her mind off.," Faith said softly as she eyed the people around them to make sure that no one had heard her say his name. He debated it for a second before he turned to her and shook his head.  
  
  
  
"I wish you could Faith.but we have more important things to do.did Lilah tell you when the attack was going to begin," he whispered loudly as he led her over to one of the drink tables and poured her a drink, trying to blend into the sea of partygoers.  
  
  
  
"No.she didn't trust me enough.all she said was that it'd start at a perfect time.whatever the hell that means.thanks," Faith said slightly shaking her head with a small look of anger on her face before it brightened to an almost shy smile as she accepted the drink he offered her.  
  
  
  
"Lilah always did love all that cryptic shit.nothing ever came easy with her.," he said with an angry scowl on his face as she had to stop, with a hand on his arm, him from rubbing some of the paint off of his chin. He smiled innocently and nodded his head slightly before he dropped his hand back to his side. "Thanks.," he said sheepishly shrugging his shoulders.  
  
  
  
"Anytime Wes.," she said back with a smile of her own along with a slight nod of her head before she reached up and pushed a stray light brown curl back under the wig.  
  
  
  
"Well we can't waste anymore time here making bloody small talk.let's go," he said with a determined look in his eye as he took her hand and led her towards and then up the stairs, all the while making sure that no one had noticed their movements.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Back outside the hotel the last few mercenary sharpshooters were getting into position. They had fanned out around the old hotel, with their orders being to take out anyone that tried to leave the party until the appointed time, other than the two people of whom they had been shown pictures of, Wesley Wyndham Pryce and Faith. But regardless of their orders this group of mercenaries was known for having hair triggers and a long rap sheet of shooting first and asking questions later. Knowing this Lilah had hoped that the rest of the mercenaries and the magic wielders would do their jobs properly and keep the situation under control. Near her Lilah could feel the warmth of the torches that were intended to be used to start the fire that would force Angel to comply with her plan, whether he wanted to or not. In truth her plan was ingenious and sick at the same time. With a small nod she set the entire plan into motion, with the first wave of mercenaries marching towards the back of the hotel with the intent of slipping in undetected through the unused rooms.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
It didn't take him long to find her, with his heightened vampire hearing Angel could have heard her crying from a great distance. He approached her cautiously, wary of the look of pure hatred on Connor's face. She noticed him in a quick glance up and for a second thought about running again, but in her life she had run enough, so she waved Connor off as politely as she could. For his part Connor seemed to get the idea and very begrudgingly backed off and was soon out of eyesight, but definitely not out of earshot, as he planned on listening to every word of their conversation, and being there for Cordelia if it got out of hand.  
  
  
  
"Cordy.I'm sorry.I.," Angel said softly, almost choking on the words, as he sat down beside her and tried to take her hand in his but she fearfully pulled away.  
  
  
  
"Angel save it okay.you're not sorry.it's what you wanted right.you and Buffy I mean.it's what you've always wanted.isn't it," Cordelia said shaking slightly as the tears slid down her cheeks and after mixing with her makeup made black and blue rivers stretching from her eyes to her chin.  
  
  
  
"Cordelia.I'm sorry okay.it just happened.we were dancing at it just happened.it was an accident.," Angel said desperately trying to come up with the right words to say to not hurt her anymore than he already had.  
  
  
  
"Some accident.you didn't look very sorry.you looked like you were enjoying yourself.quite a bit," Cordelia shot back with an almost vindictive scowl on her face as she moved away a bit before settling back down.  
  
  
  
"That might have been what it looked like.but it wasn't Cordy.I swear.I love you.not Buffy.you.Buffy and I.we.can never be together.," Angel said slowly and deliberately as if he was saying words that in the end he hoped would never truly be realized. When he had gotten his soul back Buffy was all he could think of.seeing her.holding her in his arms.making love to her. But then the other shoe had dropped and he learned that he could never experience true happiness again, and after that no matter how hard they tried everything with Buffy went farther south than the South Pole. But now he had begun to hope again with a new love.something that he didn't think it was possible for him to do, and he wasn't about to let it just slip away without a fight.  
  
"I wish I could believe you Angel.I do.but you love Buffy.and you always will.I was a fool to think otherwise.," Cordelia moaned back in between sobs that wracked her body. Angel made a move to comfort her but she pulled back as if in fear for her life. "Stay back Angel.please.," she shot back through the tears before she jumped to her feet and took off into the shadows of the hotel with Connor close behind, but only after glaring intensely as Angel.  
  
  
  
"Cordy.wait.," Angel yelled out sadly as he leapt to his feet and began to chase after her through the darkened passages of the hotel, all the while not seeing the heavily armed mercenary duo that stepped out of the shadows soon after, each carrying large cans full of gasoline.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
While Angel was searching for Cordelia Buffy was hurriedly beginning a search of her own, but for her she was searching for a vampire that had recently reclaimed his soul instead of a former cheerleader. She hadn't gone to far when she almost tripped over something, and upon reaching down and picking it up she realized that it was the brown coat that Spike had been wearing. With a small sigh she gathered the coat up in her arms and continued on her way, eventually coming to a room that looked kind of like an old kitchen. "Spike.you in here," she called out nervously as she poked her head inside the room and looked around, hoping that she had picked the right room.  
  
  
  
"Go away.," she heard Spike say after a muffled sniffle as she saw movement in the far corner of the room.  
  
  
  
"Sorry.but you know that I can't do that," Buffy said softly and earnestly as she took a step into the room and quietly shut the door behind her. "Look.we need to talk.," she started again with a sad and nervous look on her face as she began to feel around for the light switch.  
  
  
  
"Nothing to talk about luv.to the right a bit," Spike said with such a profound sense of sadness in his voice that it almost made Buffy burst into tears on the spot.  
  
"What do you.oh," Buffy started to ask questioningly before she took his advice and her hand soon bumped into the light switch, and without much fanfare she turned it on. The light took a second to flicker on, and in that second Buffy could see Spike sit down on the floor, with one leg out and his back up against the wall, and hang his head in dismay. She slowly made her way over to him and was about to sit down directly across from him when he picked his head up and gazed deep into her eyes. Buffy's breath caught in her throat when she saw the depth of sadness contained in Spike's eyes, mirrored only by the tears that streamed down his face.  
  
  
  
"You shouldn't be here pet, I'm making you miss the party.and all the dancing," Spike muttered sadly as he then lifted his gaze up to the ceiling and fixed his attention on one of the ceiling tiles.  
  
  
  
"Look at me.Spike, look at me.please," Buffy started to say with a small hint of anger in her voice as she reached out and laid her hand on Spike's shoulder, and she was slightly relieved when he didn't immediately recoil from her touch as he had done before. For a second she though her words were in vain as he continued to stare up at the ceiling. But as she lifted her other hand and prepared to manually force him to look at her he lowered his head and looked her straight in the eye, but she couldn't look into his eyes and see the pain and self loathing contained within for long before she felt her own tears sliding down her cheeks. "I don't care about the party anymore Spike.I hurt you.," she said as she forced down a sob and squeezed his shoulder slightly.  
  
  
  
"It's my fault.I deserved it.," Spike muttered sadly in such a way that made Buffy have to bit her lip to keep from slapping him.  
  
  
  
"Stop it.stop it right now.you don't deserve it.no matter what you might think Spike you don't deserve it," Buffy said almost in a yell as she grabbed Spike's other shoulder and gave him a hard shake.  
  
  
  
"Doesn't matter now.you n' Peaches.seemed to be.lucky guy," Spike said sadly as he dropped his gaze back down to the floor and slumped his shoulders.  
  
  
  
"Spike.Angel and I.we.we got carried away in the moment.that's all it was.we can't be together.the curse on his soul prevents that.you know that," Buffy said with a hopeful yet sad tone to her voice as she hung her head and began to cry for all the lost opportunities with Angel. They stayed like that, slayer and vampire, tears streaming down their cheeks before Buffy felt something cold but soft brush against her cheek. She cautiously lifted her head up and found Spike looking right at her with a worried look on his face.  
  
  
  
"Can't have the slayer crying so much.you've done too much of that already.at my expense.can't have you doing that anymore.," Spike said softly and truthfully as he slowly brushed away another tear.  
  
  
  
"It's not only at your expense Spike.it's at mine to.every bit as much as being the slayer has been a blessing in my life it's also been a curse, I stonewall the people around me and mistreat those that I love.," Buffy said after swallowing hard and deciding to just spill her guts, and hope for the best.  
  
  
  
"It's okay luv.it's helps you fight.keeping everyone away," Spike started to say softly as he leaned forward a bit and was surprised to find Buffy doing the same. By the time he'd finished he discovered that the distance between his face and Buffy's was at best no more than an inch, he felt as if she were to take in a deep breath their noses would touch.  
  
  
  
"While I'm fighting maybe.but not when I'm.I'm," Buffy sputtered out through quivering lips as her heart skipped a beat and she stuttered a bit.  
  
  
  
"But not when you're.," Spike started to say almost in a whisper before he took an all or nothing gamble and leaned forward just a bit more and pressed his lips up against Buffy's, half expecting her to jerk back and give him a slap across the face. But to his surprise she didn't pull back, in fact she looped an arm around his head and pulled him deeper into the kiss.  
  
  
  
Unbeknownst to Spike or Buffy someone had followed them and had been listening to the majority of their conversation as they peeked their head in after slowly opening the door. Dawn at first looked on with her body tense, ready to go to her sister's defense if it were necessary, but when she saw their kiss deepen she suddenly felt the fear and anger that she had felt at first leave her body and a smile forced itself onto her face. With a content sigh she softly closed the door and took a step backwards. She was about to turn around when she was grabbed from behind and dragged into the darkness, with a gloved hand stifling her shouts of alarm.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
They had waited at the top of the stairs for a few seconds, expecting someone to come up and investigate as to where they had disappeared to. But after a short time no one came and together they silently made their way up another flight of stairs before they rounded a corner and jumped into a room only seconds before two armed mercenaries walked past, one about Wesley's size and the other about the same size as Faith. Wesley motioned for Faith to be ready before he made his move. "Hey you," Wesley shouted with a nervous look on his face as the two mercenaries instantly turned around. Wesley barely had enough time to step back into the room and give Faith a quick look before the two mercenaries shoved the door open and charged into the room.  
  
  
  
The two mercenaries expected to find little resistance but were taken by surprise when they were attacked before they could even get off a shot. Faith quickly rendered the mercenary that charged at her unconscious before she went to help Wesley, who was fighting with the mercenary that had charged him over the mercenary's gun. With both Wesley and Faith attacking the fight was soon over and the two unconscious mercenaries were dragged fully into the room before Wesley cautioned a quick look out in the hall to make sure that no one was there.  
  
  
  
By the time he shut the door and turned around he found that Faith had already begun to undress the mercenary that was her size and wiped some of her clown makeup off onto her sleeve. He soon joined her and a few minutes later the mercenaries were drugged, from a syringe that Wesley had carefully attached to his belt, and placed in the bathroom. "That went well," Faith said with a small snicker as she pulled off her wig and wiped off the rest of her makeup.  
  
  
  
"Yes well.let's hope our luck holds," Wesley said with a nervous and hurried look on his face as he followed Faith's example and began to wipe the makeup off of his face on his sleeve. Beside him Faith unzipped her clown suit and slipped out of it. He stared at her for a second and eyed her near naked form with a happy smile on his face.  
  
  
  
"What are you smiling at," she said quickly with a slightly confused look on her face as she slipped her shoes off while looking back at him over her shoulder.  
  
  
  
"Nothing.I thought you were going to wear something more than.well that under your costume," Wesley said with a nervous smile on his face as he looked at Faith, who was wearing only her underwear and a pair of socks, before looking down at the pair of jeans and short sleeved shirt that he was wearing.  
  
  
  
"I got hot with all those clothes on; besides the quicker we change the better right.and I know how much you like to see me in my underwear," she said with a small laugh and shrug of her shoulders before she turned her back to him and began to pull on the pants portion of her new costume.  
  
  
  
"You know me to well.," he said with an embarrassed smile on his face as he reached over and idly ran a finger up and then slowly down the middle line of her back, an act that sent chills through her body.  
  
  
  
"There'll be plenty of time for that later," she forced herself to say as she took a step away from Wesley and turned around to face him.  
  
"And much more," he said with a hopeful smile on his face before he slipped out of his own clothes and began to put on his new costume. It didn't take them long before they were in full mercenary gear, looking close enough that they hoped no one would notice. And with a final check on the two mercenaries in the bathroom they slipped back out of the room and set off down the hall, checking their weapons to make sure that they were loaded and hoping that they wouldn't have to use them.  
  
END OF CHAPTER 12 


	13. Just A Few Uninvited Guests

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 13- Just A Few Uninvited Guests  
  
  
  
They slowly made their way down the hall, being careful to not be seen by either more of the mercenaries or by any party patron that had gotten lost. A myriad of emotions swirled around within him. Here he was decked out in full mercenary gear with a similarly outfitted Faith by his side, both hiding who they were from anyone that would cross their paths. They hadn't spoken much since they exited the room, preferring to use simple hand signals that they had come up with before Giles had arrived. They were just about to descend a flight of stairs when there was a roaring sound from behind. Thanks to her slayer senses Faith was the first to react.  
  
  
  
"What the hell," Faith said in almost a shocked yell as she spun around, followed closely behind by Wesley. The sight that greeted them was one that they would have expected to see in a movie, but not in the hallway of the Hyperion. For crashing around a corner and then bearing down on them was a wall of water that stretched all the way to the ceiling.  
  
  
  
"Move.," Wesley yelled at the top of his lungs as he grabbed Faith by the shoulder and pushed her away from the oncoming wall of water before together they tore off at full speed down the hall, followed ever so close behind by the oncoming torrent of water. They had just stepped onto the first stair step when the water hit them like a locomotive, picking them up off of their feet as if they were as light as a feather and first slamming them into the ceiling before ushering them down the stairs.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Downstairs Anya and Xander were arguing about exactly what they filled Twinkies with when a downtrodden Angel sulked back into the lobby. The majority of the party guests were completely oblivious to Angel's somber mood as he made his way through the crowd. As the lights finally came up Willow thought she saw Angel wipe a lone solitary tear away before anyone saw it but it was all over so fast that she wasn't sure if what she saw was indeed a tear or just a trick of light or something. She had refrained from dancing and instead kept watch on the doors that Angel and Buffy had passed through on their treks to repair damaged emotions and dreams. Angel was only a few feet away from the assembled Scooby's when he suddenly turned and made a deliberate byline for the office. Willow was about to get up and follow him in, her mind abuzz with more than a million questions and concerns, but she hesitated a few seconds, long enough for Angel to enter the office and slam the door behind him. With a frumpy look on her face Willow plopped back down and tried to feign interest in Anya and Xander's debate. With it having now switched from Twinkie filling to how many licks it really took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, with Anya saying that she had known a demon that had sworn that he'd get to the bottom of the mystery no matter what. In the end she explained that the demon had gone insane and then starved to death.  
  
  
  
Seconds after slamming the office's door shut Angel regretted ever entering the small boxlike room. For sitting behind the desk was a passed out slug of a demon, one that had gained notoriety for his obnoxious body odor. Almost instinctively Angel took a step back and frantically looked around the room for anything that could get rid of the stench, but seeing nothing he spun around and fumbled with the doorknob as he tried to turn it. He just about had the doorknob when a slimy green tendril, coupled with loud screams and shouts coming from the lobby, erupted through the wall and slammed into Angel's back, blasting him through the door face first.  
  
  
  
Out in the lobby Willow was just about to yell at Xander and Anya to stop arguing when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, sending a cold chill through her body. She frantically scanned the lobby for anything that looked out of the ordinary but saw nothing, that is until her gaze fell to the Hyperion's front doors as she noticed a strange purple aura near them. She was just getting out of her seat when the first scream tore through the lobby and Angel came crashing through the door, knocking Xander to the ground.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Because of how deeply they were concentrating on how good the kiss felt neither Buffy nor Spike heard anything out of the ordinary at first, with the first few screams and loud noises being passed off as background noise. They finally broke the kiss when two heavily armed mercenaries came storming into the room. Buffy was first to react as she rolled out of the open and pulled herself out of the mercenaries line of sight. Spike however wasn't as lucky as the mercenaries were able to get a couple of shots off before he could dive beside Buffy, with one shot whizzing by his ear and the second shot grazed his right leg.  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell," Spike growled in pain as he landed hard next to Buffy, who had armed herself with an old pot in each hand. Buffy quickly turned her head and looked back at Spike with a touch of fear and uncertainty in her eye before the edge of the mercenaries shadow crept over the island.  
  
  
  
"Stay where you..oof," the taller of the mercenaries growled as he began to climb up on the island before Buffy leapt to her feet and smashed the first mercenary directly in the face with one pot before she took advantage of the second mercenary's split second indecision as she slid across the island and cracked him on the side of the head with the other pot. Both mercenaries tumbled awkwardly to the floor before the taller one started to get back to his feet but was knocked back down to the floor by an angry Spike that almost leapt clear over the island and dropped right onto him. Spike didn't waste any time and was soon landing blow after blow into the mercenary's face. Buffy meanwhile had tackled the other mercenary and set about wrestling with him for his gun.  
  
  
  
Although the mercenary was strong thanks to her slayer strength Buffy was able to wrestle the gun away and throw it to a side before she joined Spike in pummeling the mercenary's. By now Spike's mercenary was completely unconscious but nevertheless Spike kept landing punch after punch, running on more anger and adrenaline than fear or self preservation. Buffy's mercenary didn't stay conscious to much longer and she was soon forced to grab Spike's arm and force him to stand up, all the while telling him that the threat was over, that's before they heard a chorus of frightened screams coming from the lobby.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Cordelia had fled to one of the outermost rooms in the hotel and as such the first scream sounded more like someone shouting on a microphone, so she paid it little mind. Connor, who was sitting nervously at her side trying to comfort her and stop her from crying, instantly recognized the sound as that of a scream for help and bolted to his feet and then quickly made up the distance between him and the door before he ripped it open and took off through the open doorway.  
  
  
  
"Connor.what.wait.wait for me," Cordelia mumbled loudly as she looked up through tear filled eyes as she watched Connor disappear out of the room and into the darkness. Without thinking she lurched to her feet and took off after him, hearing the sound of glass shattering as she passed through the open doorway.  
  
  
  
It didn't take to long for Connor to rush back to the hotel lobby but when he got there he did a double take, for the party now resembled a war zone. Most of the tables had been overturned, spilling the punch and food everywhere. Near the office Angel was slowly pulling himself back to his feet but a frightened demon, in its rush to flee the scene, ran headlong into Angel and the two went down in a heap. Beside them Anya was trying to pull Xander back to his feet and Willow was still sitting in her chair, her eyes wide in shock, as she gazed around the room. Gunn and Fred meanwhile had dove behind one of the overturned tables and were trying to take stock of the situation.  
  
  
  
Near the stairs Giles had been conversing, about ancient Sumerian texts, with a rather intelligent demon when a very large portal opened up directly over him and Giles was barely able to dive out of the way as a rather deadly looking demon came through the portal. Giles raised his staff up to try and protect himself but the demon swatted the meager weapon out of his hands and sent it skittering across the cold floor. The demon laughed hysterically for a second before eyeing Giles with a murderous look in its eye and raising its hand, ready to strike. Seeing this Connor rushed over and dragged Giles back out of the way just as the demon brought its clawed hand down, barely missing them. The demon readied to strike again, but before it could take a step it was consumed by a wall of water that was pushing along two helpless mercenaries.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Dawn struggled with all her might against the mercenary but it was quickly apparent that she was completely outmatched and would need help to get free. After the mercenary had initially grabbed her Dawn had been dragged back through the darkened hotel, past many dark and empty hallways, all the while not removing his gloved hand from her mouth. But what puzzled Dawn the most was the many heavily armed mercenaries and robed men that rushed by her, with a few of the robed men stopping in a dark corner to chant an incantation or two.  
  
  
  
She thought she'd never get away when with a frantic glance back and up at her abductor she noticed something that at first didn't look like something she could use to her advantage. She noticed that the mercenary that had grabbed her, and many of the others, was wearing night vision goggles. She let out a small groan before something triggered a long dormant memory. She remembered back to when Xander had forced her to watch one of his favorite war movies. In it the hero had been attacked by a large group of men wearing night vision goggles, but he had escaped their clutches when he.then the thought came to her like a bomb going off in her head.  
  
  
  
She stopped struggling so much and instead flung her free arm out so that her hand could glide along the wall desperately seeking the instrument of her salvation. At first all she felt was the texture of the wallpaper, but then her hand started to brush up against a bit of plastic. She furiously dug her feet in and made her stand there. The mercenary growled in anger and was about to yell at her when Dawn used all her strength to stomp on his foot and flip the switch. Suddenly the previously darkened hallway was bathed in a soft fluorescent glow.  
  
  
  
Even though the overhead hallway lights were not very bright they were bright enough to affect anyone using supersensitive night vision goggles. The mercenary that was holding her growled in anger and instantly let go of Dawn as he furiously reached up and flung the goggles off of his head. Dawn's last image of the mercenary that had grabbed her was of him, and many of the other mercenaries squeezing their eyes shut and angrily yelling at her.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Buffy and Spike burst through the old kitchens door and took a step back towards the lobby when two men, wearing gladiator style uniforms, blocked their path. At first Spike didn't have any idea who the two men were or why they were blocking the hallway, but seconds later just as Buffy took a step towards them and demanded that they let her pass a light went on in his head and Spike instantly recognized the two men for what they truly were.  
  
"I said let me.," Buffy demanded angrily as she glared back and forth between the two men before one of them caught her by surprise and landed a left uppercut on her chin, causing her to stagger backwards until Spike caught her. She started to act on reflex and she tensed in preparation for a leap that she hoped would give her the advantage in the fight, but a split second before she jumped she felt Spike's hand on her arm, pulling her back and away from the two men. "Spike.what are you.let me go," she growled angrily as she tried to pull her arm out of Spike's grasp, but he held her fast and pulled her slightly farther away from the two men.  
  
  
  
"Buffy no.they're not human.they're demons," Spike said quickly and nervously as he noticed the look of anger and contempt on Buffy's face as she struggled to free herself.  
  
  
  
"S.so what.let me," Buffy said now yelling at Spike before she was able to rip her arm out of Spike's grasp. "So they're demons.what's so special," she continued to say angrily as she glared back at Spike before she turned and started to head towards the two men. She had only taken a single step when one of the men, followed closely behind by the other, smashed his fists together, fists that suddenly became encased in flames.  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell slayer," Spike growled angrily as he again grabbed a shocked Buffy's arm and used all of his strength to pull her back towards him. His actions were just in time as even though Spike pulled her away from the two men one of them swung his fist quick enough and got so close to Buffy that a few of her bangs got singed.  
  
  
  
"Whoa that was close.hey.you burned my hair," Buffy yelled angrily at first with a hand on her forehead before she felt the singed bangs and became very angry. Buffy then took a step towards the two demons, who by now were just watching Spike and Buffy with arrogant smirks on their face, before she thought of something better and pulled Spike back into the old kitchen. "Come on boys.come and get us," she said with a hint of mockery in her voice and a smile on her face as the old kitchens door closed behind her.  
  
  
  
"Buffy what the hell do you think you're doing," Spike growled with anger and concern flashing in his gaze.  
  
"Trust me Spike," Buffy said pleadingly as she quickly looked first back at Spike and then over at the old kitchens door just as the two flame wielding demons entered the room, seemingly angry that neither Buffy nor Spike had stood and faced them out in the hallway.  
  
  
  
"Always pet.always," Spike said with a confused but trusting hint to his voice as he nodded his head, an act that after seeing Buffy felt her level of confidence rising and a smile spreading across her face.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Okay that's it.this party officially sucks.," Willow grumbled angrily as she stood up and then had to jump back suddenly to avoid the flying body of the demon that had run into Angel as he threw the demon off of him. She was about to say something to Angel when she noticed that he leapt back to his feet in full game face, so she stepped away from him with an uneasy look on her face. Angel was about to ask why she was backing away from him when all of the doors to the lobby burst open and in poured over a dozen armed mercenaries.  
  
  
  
"Willow look out," Angel yelled out with a cross between a fearful and angry look on his face as he made up the ground between he and Willow quickly and then grabbed her and then they both dove behind some overturned chairs just as the nearest mercenary opened fire on them, only missing them by inches.  
  
  
  
In the time it took that mercenary to stop shooting and try and determine if he had hit anything Xander and Anya were rushing him from behind, Xander armed with a metal folding chair and Anya with a long piece of the office door. The mercenary noticed them suddenly out of the corner of his eye and spun around to defend himself, but as he brought his gun up and fired off a few quick shots, shots that ended up passing harmlessly through the air and slamming into the wall as Anya had brought her weapon up and had just hit the mercenaries arm with a glancing blow that had done it's job, he left himself open for Xander's attack.  
  
  
  
Envisioning himself as one of the professional wrestlers Xander pulled back and swung the chair with all his might, cracking the mercenary across the back of the head. He fully expected the mercenary to drop like a drop, so when he pulled the chair back and the mercenary still stood he turned his head towards Anya and discovered the fearful look on his face mirrored in hers. "Uh oh.," Xander mumbled with a look of dread on his face as he turned back to the mercenary, just in time to see the heavily armed solder stagger around for a second or two like a drunken bar patron before he then slumped to the floor. "See.I told ya An.nobody messes with Xander Har.," Xander started to say with a big smile on his face and his chest puffed out in pride before another mercenary rushed over and slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of Xander's head, making him crumple to the floor and Anya almost faint.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 13 


	14. The Gang's All Here

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 14-The Gang's All Here  
  
  
  
The last thing he remembered, as his eyes fluttered open, was the wall of water bearing down on them, and then it had all gone black. He remembered that he had pushed Faith on in front of him and as a result his first instinct was to look for her. He tried to move but quickly had to double over and choke out a fair amount of water out of his body. Starting to feel as if he would suffocate he rolled his ski mask up until it only covered the top of his head. He first looked to his left but his attention was brought back to his right by coughing and choking sounds that he recognized as Faith clearing the water from her lungs.  
  
  
  
"Faith.are you," Wesley said still gasping for air as he crawled over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.  
  
  
  
"What.oh.I'm fine, what the hell was that," Faith growled angrily in between coughing fits as she had to shake her head to try and clear her thoughts.  
  
  
  
"A spell of some sort, Lilah's started the.the.," Wesley started to say with a hint of anger in his voice before it trailed off as he turned his attention to what was going on in the lobby.  
  
  
  
"Lilah started what.Wes.Wes.oh shit.we're to late," Faith shot back with a confused and frustrated scowl on her face as she first turned and looked up at Wesley and then fully turned and followed his gaze.  
  
  
  
The sight that greeted them was not a welcome or happy one. All throughout the lobby there were numerous heavily armed mercenaries attacking various party guests and even a few of the demons that had gotten out of control, with several large swirling portals hanging in the air. Up against the far wall Faith could see Xander staggering to his feet with Willow's help while Angel was deep into a fight with two of the mercenaries. She also noticed a brunette aiding Willow in helping Xander up but she couldn't get a good enough look to see who it was. Faith was just about to point out their status when she was interrupted from a few feet away.  
  
  
  
"Wesley.Faith.," Giles said with an exasperated look on his face as he ripped off his fake beard and threw it to the floor. Beside him Connor could only stare in shock and confusion as he remembered the few stories that Cordelia had told him about two people named Faith and Wesley, and the people in those stories bore absolutely no resemblance to the two people staggering to their feet in front of him. The soaking wet, frazzled, grizzled and haggard looking man in front of him was the complete opposite of the meek, unassuming, clean shaven and cautious man from Cordelia's early stories. And the woman beside him looked more like a model than the evil backstabbing bitch from Cordelia's stories. Although to their credit Connor had begun to notice how, in the telling of her stories, Cordelia tended to exaggerate certain areas, mostly of how dire the situation was and how brave she was in them, all that coupled with how ineffective and annoying everyone else was.  
  
  
  
"Lilah started earlier than we thought," Wesley said with a frustrated scowl on his face as he helped Giles up to his feet and then turned to Connor.  
  
  
  
"No shit," Faith yelled from behind them before she was cut off by automatic weapons fire as she squeezed the trigger and fired off a few shots into a particularly ugly demon that was charging towards her. Surprisingly the demon just seemed to shrug off the bullets like they were flies and kept on charging. "A little help here.," she growled angrily with a small hint of fear in her voice that only Wesley noticed, a hint that most likely would not have been there before her incarceration. But ever since she had gotten out on parole and began her relationship with Wesley she had slowly begun to let her true feelings slip out a bit more, something that at first she was reluctant to do but then she began noticing how it made the tension between them decrease it had become easier and easier to do.  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell," Wesley shouted under his breath as he spun away from Connor and Giles and pulled his weapon from behind his back and joined Faith in letting the demon have it. But even with both Wesley and Faith firing off everything they had the demon kept coming until it got close enough to them so that it could try and pound them into the floor.  
  
  
  
With the quickness borne of her slayer side Faith tossed her gun to one side and slid her knife out of its sheath on her shoulder before leaping at the demon and sinking the knife hilt deep into the demon's chest. She moved to remove the knife but was halted in her progress as from behind her a portal opened up and an octopus like leg shot out and wrapped itself around her waist and pulled her back. Wesley sprinted to her defense and drew out his own knife and was about to slash into the leg but he was knocked off his feet and sent sprawling as another leg shot out of the portal and slammed into the right side of his face.  
  
  
  
During this short sequence Connor had stood frozen in his tracks, but it was not fear that kept his feet locked onto the floor. Rather it was the sight of Faith in action, sure he had seen Cordelia fight on a number of occasions and had admired her in them but watching Faith was something different, a great deal because she did everything that Cordelia did, only better and faster. Connor was finally shaken from his stupor by the sight of one of the legs protruding from the portal shooting straight towards a startled Cordelia. With an angry shout he leapt into action and reached Cordelia just as the leg struck her in the shoulder.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
The beginning of the fight between Buffy, Spike, and the two flame fisted demons hadn't gone as Buffy had planned. When she had asked Spike to trust her she really didn't have a plan but knew that Spike fought better when he thought he was following a plan of hers and that she fought better when she knew that she had his complete and unhindered trust. Buffy and Spike had managed to split the two demons up as now Spike was fighting one on one side of the room and Buffy was fighting one on the other side of the room. Whereas Buffy had been quick enough weave and dodge her way out of getting hit by either of her demons flame encased fists Spike hadn't been so lucky and was now sporting a rather nasty looking bruise on his left cheek.  
  
  
  
Buffy desperately wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible and get back into the lobby and stop whatever hell was being unleashed in there, but the demon she was facing was making that proposition seem a long ways off. After she had landed several blows, all of which only seemed to make the demon angrier, Buffy resorted to using anything and everything that she could get her hands on as a weapon. Her first few weapons hadn't been anything more than old pots and pans, which the demon had eventually relieved her of and they had resumed using their fists.  
  
  
  
Spike meanwhile had, after getting the large bruise on his cheek, found that the demon he was fighting wasn't as good of a fighter as the one that he had faced during his trials to get his soul back. That fact raised his hopes a bit and he then spent more time on the offensive than on the defensive. The demon then made the mistake of taking a hug swing at Spike, letting him drop down at kick the demon's legs out from under him. The demon turned slightly on the way down and ended up hitting the ground face first. Spike jumped at the opportunity provided him and leapt onto the demon's back, sliding one hand underneath its chin and the other up at the top of its head before he growled angrily and snapped the demons neck.  
  
  
  
Buffy didn't see Spike get rid of his demon as she was to busy backing the demon that she was fighting back towards the old kitchens doors when suddenly they burst open, slamming into the demon. The demon stumbled forward awkwardly, leaving it open for Buffy to land a hard punch to its stomach, causing it to double over, before she reared back and brought the old frying pan that she held in her other hand down onto the back of the demons skull, momentarily dizzying it. Buffy started to take a step forwards but was brushed back by an overly anxious Spike as he took the opening provided him and snapped that demon's neck as well, smiling in triumph as he did it.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Back out in the lobby Angel was holding his own against two of the mercenaries and was going on more anger and fear for his friends then actual logical planning, but in fights like these he determined logic had little if any use. He had gotten off of the floor and was instantly attacked by the two mercenaries, but what he found troubling was the feeling he had that these mercenaries weren't trying to kill him or anyone he cared about, only keeping them in the lobby. This realization only made him fight harder as he pushed the two mercenaries that he was fighting back towards the doors leading out of the lobby before he was finally able to render them both unconscious.  
  
  
  
He spun around when he heard Fred shouting frantically. From what he could see a rather large demon had Gunn by the throat and was trying to choke the life out of him while holding Fred securely in its other hand, with her arms pinned to her side, unable to help Gunn in any way. Angel nervously scanned the floor around him for any type of weapon and was only able to come up with two knives from the two unconscious mercenaries. Shaking his head momentarily in anger he charged the demon and leapt up and drove the first dagger straight down into the demon's right shoulder, eliciting a garbled scream of pain from the demon before it loosened its grip on Gunn long enough for him to be able to break free and fall to the floor, where he quickly tried to catch his breath.  
  
  
  
Angrily the demon glared at Angel for a second before it threw a very frightened Fred into the pile of tables. Fred screamed in fear and shock the whole way until she disappeared behind the tables, and then there was complete silence except for a faint whimpering that only Angel and the demon could hear. Smiling merrily the demon turned its angered attention to Angel as it tried to reach up and pull the knife out of its shoulder. Angel ducked under the demons arm and drove the second knife deep into the demons stomach, just after it had removed the first knife. The blood stained knife clattered to the floor as blood began to spew forth violently from the injured demons shoulder.  
  
  
  
Now with its judgment clouded by pain the demon's thought process consisted mainly of only one thing, kill the annoying interloper that had caused it so much pain. And to that end it fought through the pain and grabbed Angel before he could duck out of the way. With a growl of both pain and anger the demon hurled Angel across the lobby in a high arc before he finally came down, smashing straight into the weapons cabinet, effectively shattering it and sending the weapons stored inside it clattering loudly to the floor. From across the room Angel could hear instead of see, as there was a fair amount of weapons and broken pieces of wood on top of him, Gunn fearfully yelling out Fred's name.  
  
  
  
With a feeling of dread in his stomach Angel dislodged himself from the broken remains of the weapons cabinet and was about to jump back into the fight against the injured demon he heard what sounded like automatic weapons fire. Risking further injury or possibly death to Fred and Gunn Angel cautioned a quick glance over towards the direction in which the sound of weapons fire had come from. To his astonishment across the lobby he could see two mercenaries firing straight into a demon that was charging them. That fact alone was not what brought on the astonished look but what brought it on was the fact that he recognized first one of the mercenaries and then the second. He wasn't completely shocked to see Wesley there but he was alarmed to see him decked out as a mercenary, with a hope in the back of his mind being that it was all for show and not that he really was with the mercenaries.  
  
  
  
Angel's confusion and concern levels jumped considerably when he recognized the short mercenary beside Wesley as Faith. No matter how hard he tried, in those first few fleeting seconds, Angel couldn't figure out what Faith was doing there, and why in the ensuing fight that followed after the guns proved ineffective against the charging demon did it seem like Wesley was more concerned with saving Faith's life than his own, and she likewise with him. That puzzling thought would have completely consumed his thoughts had he not then seen Connor jump past Giles and rush to the aid of Cordelia just as she was attacked by a large serpentine leg that shot out of a portal hanging several feet above their heads.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Dawn had run until her sides burned and her breath came in short painful gasps. She hadn't truly run all that far but the fact that she was running away from a seeming horde of now very angry mercenaries coupled with the entire hotel being dark and her not knowing her way around had taxed her greatly. She stopped for a breather when she felt she could run no more, but her breather didn't last long as from a far distance away she could hear the mercenaries angrily shouting at her and each other. Fighting back the pain Dawn forced herself to start running again. She hadn't gone far when she heard the sounds of a rather violent fight going on in a room near her. She was about to rush by when she remembered where she was, right outside the old kitchen, and there were the doors that she had peeked around to see Buffy and Spike sharing a stolen kiss, all before the mercenary had first grabbed her. She dropped her shoulder and charged through the doors and into the old kitchen. Her arrival was just in time as the door that she pushed on slammed into the back of the demon that Buffy was facing, breaking its concentration long enough for Buffy to knock it off of its feet with her fists.  
  
  
  
Dawn finally stepped into the old kitchen just in time to see a furious Spike leap onto the demons back and smile as he snapped its neck. For a few sickly seconds afterwards no one spoke, Dawn happy to have found Buffy and Spike, Buffy being happy that the fight with the fire fisted demons was over and that both Dawn and Spike were at her side, and Spike being happy that the two people he loved most in the world were okay.  
  
  
  
"Dawn.are you okay," Buffy cried with an exasperated and worried look on her face as she first looked back and forth between Spike and Dawn before she rushed over to her little sister and hugged her tightly.  
  
  
  
"Y.yeah.sure.nothing a little rest won't cure.and maybe some new earrings," Dawn gasped through the first part before she then said the last part almost under her breath but just loud enough that both Buffy and Spike could hear it, with the two giving her their best parental look of disapproval.  
  
  
  
"Ooh.so close.but no," Buffy said with a sly smile on her face as she smiled first at Dawn, who stuck out her bottom lip and put out her best dejected look on her face, and then at Spike, who wiped some blood from the side of his mouth with the back of his hand.  
  
  
  
"Where's you skip off to Bit.some dark corner with some wonker that you just met," Spike said with small hints of a smile on his face as he used his best fatherly tone.  
  
  
  
"A world of no.I got bored and came looking for you two.but then when I saw that you two had other things on your minds.," Dawn began slowly as she tried to catch her breath, all the while laughing internally at the embarrassed but excited looks on both Spike and Buffy's faces. "But just as I was leaving some smelly Rambo-wannabe grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth so I couldn't yell for help," the younger Summers said finishing with a look on her face as if she had just smelled something very rank. Buffy was just about to ask a follow up question when the old kitchen's door burst open and half a dozen angry mercenaries stormed in.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Even though he felt very dizzy and even a little nauseous Wesley staggered back to his feet and spun around to see Faith fighting valiantly against the serpentine like leg that had wrapped itself around her. She looked like she was losing the fight as her face was getting red and he could see that the leg was constricting around her like a snake would, crushing its prey. His heart skipped a beat as he angrily grabbed his knife and ran towards the leg that was wrapped around Faith. He dodged a half hearted attack from the demon that he and Faith had poured enough lead to stop a rhino into earlier and jumped up and grabbed hold of the leg that was slowly crushing Faith.  
  
  
  
"Wes.a.little.help...here.," Faith gasped out angrily as struggled to free herself from the crushing force of the octopus like leg.  
  
  
  
"Hold on," Wesley shouted loudly as he fought to hold onto the leg and keep possession of the knife at the same time.  
  
  
  
"Wes.hurry," Faith shot back at him with a pained grimace on her face as she began to flail her legs around, now desperately trying anything that she could come up with to free herself and buy Wesley some more time.  
  
  
  
"See how you like this ya bloody.," Wesley growled angrily as he firmly grabbed hold of the knife and with all his might drove it straight into the leg, hitting the nerve. The serpentine leg shook violently before it began to spasm uncontrollably, finally releasing its grip on Faith and letting her fall. The last thing Wesley thought before he hit the floor and then Faith landed on top of him was, "This is gonna hurt."  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 14 


	15. Now Things Really Get Interesting

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 15-Now Things Really Get Interesting  
  
  
  
He hadn't remembered being hit over the head by the chair but Xander Harris did remember the pain it caused. At first he had tried to get back to his feet by himself but had found it nearly impossible as the beginnings of a very powerful headache forced him back down. He was finally able to stagger back to his feet with Anya and Willow's help, although if he were truthful he would have admitted that if felt nice to be that close to Anya again. They had tried to repair the damage that Xander had done to their relationship by leaving her standing at the altar but it hadn't been easy, and the night before they came Anya had stayed on the opposite side of the room from him all night.  
  
  
  
"Xander come on stand up," Willow grunted out angrily as she felt that he was relying a little to much on her and Anya to get him back to his feet.  
  
  
  
"I didn't know you were so fat, you're heavier then I remember," Anya said with an astonished frown on her face as then Xander pushed himself the rest of the way back to his feet and looked over at the vengeance demon with a confused scowl on his face.  
  
  
  
"Hey.it's not my fault.it's all those donuts they have at the construction site.they're all so.yummy.and.," Xander said as his eyes glazed over slightly and his mouth began to water a bit.  
  
  
  
"Xander.stay with me here.this is definitely not the time to be fantasizing about jelly filled pastries.we have to help the others," Willow said in a scolding manner as Xander half expected to see one of the two women standing next to him wag their finger menacingly at him. Xander reluctantly nodded his head in agreement and was about to rush off to the aid of one of the party patrons when the large demon that had been initially menacing Wesley and Faith turned towards him and charged.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Cordelia," Connor shouted breathlessly as he rushed to Cordelia's side, as she was trying to keep from passing out after the blow she received from the serpentine like leg had thrown her back up against the wall. The former cheerleader had never been one for to physical a battle, leaving that mostly to Angel, Gunn, Wesley and most recently Connor. "Are you alright.," Connor asked fearfully as he knelt down beside her, completely oblivious to the happenings around him.  
  
  
  
"C.Connor.," Cordelia mumbled slowly and painfully as she instantly reached a hand up to the back of her head and winced in pain.  
  
  
  
"I'm here.are you okay," Connor said with a look on his face that made him look like a scared little boy as Giles rushed over to them and knelt beside Cordelia, Connor regarded him with a slightly angry scowl on his face.  
  
  
  
"No.," Cordelia said slowly while wincing in pain that caused Connor to momentarily lose his senses and he leaned down to try and pick her up, but he stopped abruptly as Giles grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and gave him a hefty shake.  
  
  
  
"No Connor.not like that, she could be hurt badly," Giles said with a firm tone to his voice and a very serious look on his face, one that kept Connor from saying anything in response for a few seconds.  
  
  
  
"Then we have to get her out of here.now.," Connor stammered out with an impatient scowl on his face as he again tried to lean down and simply pick Cordelia up, and was again stopped by a frustrated Giles.  
  
  
  
"No.we have to do this carefully.go find something that we can use as a backboard," Giles said in his best watcher voice, hoping that the commanding tone of the instruction would get Connor to do what he asked without hesitation.  
  
  
  
"No.I'm not leaving her.she needs me," Connor growled angrily and defiantly, as if daring Giles to make him leave.  
  
  
  
"What she needs is for you two stop acting like a bloody self absorbed child.," Giles shouted angrily as one of his hands clenched into a fist and a thought flashed through his mind of taking a swing at Connor. At his words Connor seemed to take tense up, as if preparing for a fight, and there probably would have been one had Cordelia not spoken up before anything could get to far out of hand.  
  
  
  
"Stop it.Connor, don't worry.I'll be here when you get back, just do what Giles said.trust him.please, for me," Cordelia mumbled out through small groans of pain and a forced smile on her face. For a few seconds it seemed as if Connor was going to stay frozen in place, refusing to move from Cordelia's side. But then she slowly reached up and softly brushed her hand against his cheek and he took that as a sign that she was healthy enough to be fine until he got back. With a final glare at Giles Connor jumped to his feet and disappeared through a nearby doorway.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"This is not going well," Wesley said with a frustrated look on his face as he pushed Faith off of him and sat up, trying to rub the kink out of his neck.  
  
  
  
"No shit Sherlock.what was your first clue," Faith mumbled angrily and sarcastically as she pushed herself up to her hands and knees and looked back and forth between Wesley and the portal, seemingly waiting for some sage words of wisdom from her former watcher.  
  
"We have to get these portals closed, or we won't make it out of here alive," Wesley exclaimed with a worried look on his face before he jumped back to avoid one of the serpentine legs that swung wildly at him.  
  
  
  
"Well unless you've been holding out on me I'd say we're fucked.royally," Faith said seemingly angrier at their plight than at Wesley, all the while the rogue slayer nervously searched for the knife that Wesley had dropped. She quickly found it and on the next pass from the leg she gauged her timing right and swung upwards, leaving a nice sized gash in the leg and looking pretty proud of herself.  
  
  
  
"I'm not exactly sure how to close the portals.other than to find those responsible for opening them in the first place and.," Wesley said under his breath only to Faith, as her look of pride slipped from her face and was quickly replaced by one of ever growing concern and worry, both new looks for her. And both looks that Wesley had to admit he didn't like to see.  
  
  
  
"Kill them.right.that's what you were going to say.we have to find whoever's opening those damn portals and kill them.or the portal's will stay open indefinitely.notice the use of the big word there," Faith shot back with an angry at the world scowl on her face, before her look changed to one of momentary triumph, as she looked around and flattened herself against the cold floor as the injured leg made an ill aimed attempt at hitting her, but simply passed harmlessly overhead.  
  
  
  
"Only as a last resort Faith.only as a last resort, I'm hoping that keeping these portals open is severely taxing whoever's doing it, and if we were to somehow.disrupt them.or perhaps render them unconscious.," Wesley said looking at Faith with at first a very serious look but it then quickly changed to a very nervous one.  
  
  
  
"Okay fine.we'll just knock them out when we find them.but where are they.all I see are scared partygoers, floating portals, and mercenaries," Faith said slowly in between dodging attacks by many of the serpentine legs hanging out of the portal overhead.  
  
  
  
"I don't know.but they're here somewhere.inside the hotel.of that I'm certain, we'll just have to search every room," Wesley said with a frustrated sigh as he reached out and grabbed hold of Faith's arm before pulling her back away from the portal.  
  
  
  
"But that'll take forever.they could be anywhere," Faith shot back with a very impatient scowl on her face as she and Wesley leaned on each other and helped each other stand up.  
  
  
  
"Well then we'll just have to hurry.c'mon," Wesley exclaimed nervously as he turned away from the portal and took off running out of the lobby, with Faith close behind.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Dawn watch out.behind you," Buffy shouted emphatically as she noticed one of the mercenaries sneaking up on Dawn from behind. Buffy started to go to her younger sister's aid but was cut off by a pair of mercenaries that seemed to delight in keeping her from getting to Dawn. "Big mistake," Buffy said with an angry scowl on her face before one of the mercenaries awkwardly lunged at her with a knife in his hand, aiming the knife's point straight towards her stomach. Utilizing both her slayer strength and speed Buffy caught the knife in mid-strike with her left hand and then pivoted on her left foot and slammed her right foot into the side of the knife wielding mercenaries head. The force of the blow sent the knife wielding mercenary careening into the other, with the pair sent sprawling.  
  
  
  
Across the room Dawn barely had time to move after hearing Buffy's hurried warning. The mercenary that had been sneaking up on her cursed through the mask as he lunged for Dawn but she dropped and rolled out of the way, in the end taking the feet out from under the mercenary that was currently fighting Spike to a standstill. With a slight smile sent Spike's way, which was reluctantly returned, Dawn was almost caught off guard as the mercenary that had originally lunged after her renewed his effort and swung a punch aimed at her chin. She tried to take a step back so that the mercenary would only end up hitting air but in the process she tripped backwards over the mercenary that she had knocked down just seconds before as he tried to get back to his feet.  
  
  
  
Spike emotions went from anger at not being able to fend of the particularly bothersome mercenary in front of him to reluctant gratitude at the sight of Dawn knocking the mercenary to the ground. But the look of gratitude was quickly replaced by one of slight fear as he saw Dawn stumble and fall to the floor as she tried to avoid a punch from one of the mercenaries that charged towards her. Leaping into action Spike, after waiting for the mercenaries punch to go by him, slammed his shoulder into the mercenary's chest with all the might that he could muster on a moments notice. The mercenary was sent flying back up against a shelf filled with an array of old cooking utensils, and as he slumped to the floor after his head hit the edge of the shelf knocking him out, he was soon hidden beneath a small mountain of stainless steel.  
  
  
  
Just as Spike was starting to silently revel in the aftermath of his attack on the mercenary he heard, from behind, Dawn's muffled cries of both anger and fear. Spinning around on his heel Spike aimed to jump right into the fight, hitting the first thing he saw. But the first thing that he saw turned out to be Dawn and she jumped back to her feet, against the obvious wishes of the mercenary at her feet, who was also staggering back to his feet. "Dawn.duck," Spike said softly with the beginnings of a smile as he lifted his left hand up and laid it lightly on Dawn's right shoulder.  
  
  
  
"Duck.what.there's a duck," Dawn stammered out with a thoroughly confused look on her face before she was brutally interrupted by the fist of the angry mercenary behind her as it slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground.  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell.what is it with you Summers and not noticing the obvious," Spike growled more sarcastically than angrily before he rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and dove onto the mercenary that Dawn was now furiously fighting.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Had anyone been looking in the correct direction they would have been amazed at the scream that came from the person's lips that stood frozen in place as an extremely angry demon charged towards them. For standing, completely motionless with fear, was not a young woman but instead the totally petrified Xander Harris. He could only stand there and watch, for the many muscles in his legs had suddenly abandoned all rational actions and just refused to move, as the demon continued its charge his way, coming closer and closer, with its obvious intent to turn him into a human sized stain on the wall behind him, making the fact that he was wearing the outfit of the Cowardly Lion even more poetic. Out of something that he thought was fear he exercised the only muscles that seemed to be still in allegiance with his, his eyelids, as he slammed them shut and impatiently waited to be squashed into the wall and then to find out what was waiting for him on the other side.  
  
  
  
But today was not his day to die as mere seconds before the angry demon plowed him over Angel snapped his head around just in time and threw himself into Xander, knocking them both out of the way. But the two of them caused just enough of a speed bump that the charging demon couldn't stop in time and stumbled over them awkwardly before it went crashing through the wall, showering Angel and Xander with old wallpaper, dust, and plaster. As the plaster and dust began to settle Xander found that he could operate more muscles and he gazed in awe at the large hole in front of him. "Give me a little time to go out and get some boards and nails from my truck and I'll have that wall looking good as new," he said with more out of force of habit, of constantly putting things back together that his life as a Scooby had destroyed, than fear as at that moment his mind was still trying to process what had happened since the first portal appeared overhead.  
  
  
  
"Xander.this is no time for home repair tips.although I do see your point.that hole is rather noticeable.and ugly," Anya said angrily at first before she to turned to the wall and soon the look on her face matched that of the look on Xander's face.  
  
  
  
"Talk later, fight now," Angel grumbled angrily as he pushed himself up to his knees, all the while not noticing the form of the giant demon behind him as it rose above him, its right arm being stretched out, ready to smash anyone on the ground below it. Anya was first to see the danger that the trio was in as she let out a harsh and scared gasp that made Xander look up in first wonderment and then fear as his eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped open. "What.what is.oh.," Angel stammered out as he notice the horrified looks on Xander and Anya's face before a small part of him realized, even without turning around, the reason for their fears. With a loud growl the demon started to bring its arm down to crush Xander, Angel, and Anya, but just it was about to make contact it suddenly screamed in pain before it seemingly imploded. As the dust began to settle, and Xander and Anya seemed to calm down a bit, Angel thought that he could hear someone say from a short distance away in a very happy tone, "Wow.yes.it worked." Angel shook his head in disbelief before he turned and eyed the redheaded witch standing nearby wearily.  
  
  
  
"Now what's that look for.come on boys and girls.uh girl.time's a waistin," Willow said at first with a peculiar frown on her face before her expression changed to a broad smile.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
They tore through the hallways like half starved cheetahs, Wesley taking the east side and Faith taking the next, with the two of them throwing open every door that they came took, peering inside fervently in the hopes that they'd uncover a magic user or two. They had already searched through all of the street level rooms on that side of the hotel when Faith grabbed Wesley's arm and nearly pulled him up the stairs. He was about to angrily protest the treatment when she turned to him and smiled softly with a repentant, pleading, and hurried look in her eye. Grumbling softly to himself he turned away and resumed his search through the doors on his side of the hall. The third door that she came to Faith discovered, much to her annoyance, that it was locked. Not thinking much of it she was about to move onto the next door when she thought she heard the sound of people chanting coming from somewhere inside the room.  
  
  
  
"Wes wait.I think I found something," Faith yelled out, partially to be heard over the din of the battle waging back downstairs in the lobby but mostly caused by her exuberance, as she momentarily turned away from the door and located Wesley a few doors down.  
  
  
  
"What.are you sure," Wesley shot back, almost yelling as loudly as Faith had, before he took a few steps back towards Faith, finally getting himself near enough to the door to caution a listen. He listened for a few seconds before he scrunched up his face and turned back to Faith. "Are you sure.I can't hear anything," he yelled out with a worried scowl on his face.  
  
  
  
"You're arguing with me.hello super slayer hearing.I love you and all but.," Faith shot back with a slightly angry and impatient tone to her voice before she slowly shook her head in frustration.  
  
  
  
"I love you to Faith.now help me with this door or else I'll use you as a bloody battering ram," Wesley said loudly as Faith blinked her eyes a few times in confusion before a smile lit up her face.  
  
  
  
"I just love that accent of yours.," Faith started to say with a sexy smile on her face before she leaned in and crushed her lips against Wesley's in a kiss that instantly stifled Wesley's hasty response and would have lasted a lot longer, and possibly led to other things had there not been a loud shout heard from the room and a huge fight going on downstairs in the lobby. They broke off the kiss reluctantly before nodding their heads in unison. With a final loud yell they both reared back and almost shattered the door as they kicked it open.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 15 


	16. Getting Close To The End

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters other than the ones that I created.  
  
CHAPTER 16-Getting Close To The End  
  
  
  
The door exploded inwards upon itself, sending sharp shards of broken wood flying throughout the room. The first thing Faith heard, a second or two sooner than Wesley because of her enhanced slayer hearing, was the sound of spells being cast and their abruptly stopping as the chanting soon turned to shrieks and howls of pain, surprise, and anger. Faith's first glimpse of the robed wizards sent jolts of shock and confusion through her body. But the jolts were not because she was afraid or concerned in the slightest about whether or not she and Wesley would be able to stop these relative few magic wielders. The concern came from the fact that upon seeing the magic user's memories flashed in the back of her mind, but these memories were not of the usual variety. Instead they more resembled the slayer dreams that she had begun having just before she had been released.  
  
  
  
At first she had welcomed them, anything to break the cycle of first dreaming about her newfound feelings of love, or at that time she was still confused as to the meaning of the dreams as before she would dream of just fucking some stranger, anything to try and relieve the boredom, even if it was only in her dreams. But then one day that complete stranger had turned to Wesley, and after that first dream the image of the stranger hadn't changed from the visage of her former watcher. And after a short time she actually began to enjoy the dreams and even look forward to them. But almost as soon as those pleasurable dreams had started their alter ego style dreams had begun, with them being some of the most horrible dreams that she had ever had. The dreams would start out like her pleasurable ones but then suddenly as if on cue they'd change to ones as if she were watching herself causing pain and suffering to everyone that had ever trusted her, the ones with Wesley in them had made her, on more than one occasion, caused her to jerk awake, tears flooding down her face and her hands shaking so bad that she found it next to impossible to even hold a glass of water long enough to drink without spilling most of it all over herself.  
  
  
  
She still had those dreams for the first couple of days after being released. But they had ended after the night that she spent with Wesley, and ever since then she had found herself dreaming normal dreams again and actually enjoying them for once. With a vigorous shake of her head Faith cleared those memories from her mind and focused completely on the mission at hand. Wesley had tackled the first magic user that he had come to and was now in the process of rendering him unconscious. Faith started to go to his aid when she sensed an attack coming from her right and she barely had time to drop her head as a knife with a rune covered blade ripped through the air where her head had just been.  
  
  
  
"Watch it asshole," Faith growled angrily as she stood back up and checked to see that none of her hair had been cut off before she leveled the magic user wielding the knife with a swift kick to his stomach. She took a small bit of pride out of how fast the man went down and how much pain he seemed to be in. But she didn't have too much time to revel in her actions as across from her Wesley smashed the butt of his gun into the nose of another of the magic users. But this particular magic user had found the time to pick up and aim a small crossbow at Faith's head. He had just been about to fire the bolt when Wesley attacked. And that attacked caused the bolt to veer slightly off course, but its trajectory sent it skimming so close to Faith's head that she felt the breeze ruffle a few stray strands of hair that had fallen out of place.  
  
  
  
The rest of the robed wizards could only stand there in shocked silence as Wesley and Faith came after them, with the final one going down after receiving a well placed kick from Wesley. The triumphant pair, who were now more wet with sweat than from the wall of water that they had encountered earlier, staggered back to their feet and exchanged a quick congratulatory hug before they turned back towards the door, just in time to see a furious Fyarl demon charged through the destroyed doorway.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Back in the old kitchen Buffy and Spike had spent the rest of the fight there making sure that none of the mercenaries got anywhere close to Dawn, who for her part managed to take down a couple of them. Overall the rest of the fight didn't take very long and soon Buffy led Spike and Dawn back through the hallways and back into the lobby. Just as they entered the lobby the myriad of portals seemingly vanished into thin air. The first sight that greeted them upon entering the lobby was the sight of Angel helping Anya and Xander back to their feet with a confident looking Willow standing nearby. Anya was first to notice that the portals were gone and that Buffy, Spike, and Dawn were back in the lobby.  
  
  
  
"Hey look.the portals are gone and.Buffy.Spike.you're back, and you found Dawn.you know it's not smart to run away at a time like this, what with all of the.," Anya started to say with at first a very happy smirk on her face before her demeanor changed to more of a scolding manner as she shook her finger menacingly at Dawn.  
  
  
  
"Hey.I didn't run away, one of those mercenaries grabbed me and I had to fight them off," Dawn stated indignantly as she stomped her foot lightly and crossed her arms.  
  
  
  
"Angel.what's going on here," Buffy asked with a look of both confusion and hope on her face, confusion as to exactly what was going on and hope as to her having hope that Angel knew what was going on.  
  
  
  
"I don't know.what about you," Angel said back with an unhappy smirk on his face before he was interrupted by Willow.  
  
  
  
"Uh guys we got problems here.of the incendiary kind," Willow said with a touch of fear and apprehension in her voice as she took a few steps back before pointing across the room.  
  
  
  
"Bloody hell," Spike mumbled angrily and dejectedly as he hung his head and then shook it in dismay. Buffy was not comforted by the fact that both Angel and Spike wore the same expression on their face. So when she turned to look at what Willow was pointing at she expected the worst and therefore wasn't completely surprised to see that the remaining mercenaries were setting fires all throughout the lobby.  
  
  
  
"Oh this can't be good," Anya mumbled sadly but in a way in as if she wasn't scared at the amount of fire now turning the lobby into a tinderbox.  
  
  
  
Without so much as a word Angel leapt into action, with his main goal seeming to be to try and take out as many of the mercenaries as he could as quickly as he could, but all in all not kill any of them in the process. Spike seemed to be on the same train of thought as his grandsire and before Buffy could turn and look his way he had charged the nearest mercenary and tackled him to the ground. "Stay here," Buffy said with a strong and strict glare back at Dawn before she ran off to join Angel and Spike in their attempts to stop the mercenaries from setting fire to the entire lobby. Xander was just about to throw caution to the wind and join the fire fighting trio when he noticed Giles kneeling beside someone on the other side of the lobby. At first he couldn't recognize who the person was but as he pushed through his fear and remembered what everyone was wearing the realization shocked him.  
  
  
  
"Oh no.Cordelia," Xander gasped out with a fearful look on his face before he grabbed Anya's arm and pulled her along as he rushed across the floor of the lobby, much to her initial chagrin.  
  
  
  
Ever since Giles had sent Connor away to try and find something that could be used as a backboard to transport Cordelia out of the hotel he had spent the time trying to both keep himself and her hidden and to try and assess her injuries as best he could. He almost didn't even notice when all of the portals disappeared suddenly with a sound as if someone had quickly ripped apart two pads of Velcro. He was readily aware however when the mercenaries began setting fire to the various portions of the lobby and when Buffy, Spike, and Dawn came rushing back into the lobby. He thought for a second of calling to them but quickly decided against it as doing so would alert the mercenaries to his position and Cordelia certainly wasn't well enough for that eventuality. He was glad to see that apparently everyone was still alive, and that fact alone gave him hope that whatever or whomever was behind the attack at the party could be thwarted and his friends saved. He was about to make his first move when he noticed a frightened Xander making his way towards him, with an angry Anya on his arm.  
  
  
  
"Giles.Cordy.what," Xander stammered out with a fearful scowl on his face as he and Anya got to Giles' side.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry Xander, Connor went to get something to use as a backboard, and he should be," Giles started to say with a small bit of contempt in his voice as he knew that the young man standing in front of him was legendary for doing stupid things and he had to make sure that he didn't entice him to do anything stupid at this point in time.  
  
  
  
"Ah.Giles.your beard fell off.and it's all black.and burnt.you'll never get your security deposit back now," Anya pouted with her bottom lip stuck out as she knelt down beside Cordelia and picked up the remnants of the beard that Giles had been wearing when he first stepped foot into the lobby. Leave it to Anya to find the smallest shred of humor in a landscape so previously devoid of it was the common thought that ran through both Giles and Xander's minds as they both tried their hardest to not roll their eyes and sigh.  
  
  
  
"That's not important now Anya.Xander go and see if you can expedite Connor's search for something to use as a backboard.bloody hell.just go," Giles said with at first a very commanding tone to his voice and look on his face as he pointed towards the door that Connor had gone through earlier. He changed his tone quickly when he saw the completely blank look on Xander's face and guessed the question forming in his mind. Luckily Xander seemed to understand the instructions and nodded his head with a cheesy smile on his face as he soon took off through the door that Connor had disappeared through earlier.  
  
  
  
"What do I do Giles.," Anya asked pleadingly as she crawled over next to Cordelia and looked back and forth between the former watcher and the former cheerleader. Giles pondered the question for a few seconds before responding.  
  
  
  
"Stay here and keep her company while I go help Buffy," Giles said with a look on his face as if the idea had sounded really good in its initial stages but then when he realized what the idea meant he didn't know if it truly was such a good idea. Clearing his head of such negative thoughts Giles gave Cordelia and Anya one last quick look before he used his staff to pull himself back up to his feet. Before Anya could utter a response in protest Giles was off, using his staff as a weapon as best he could. Anya watched him fight for a few seconds with a frustrated look on her face before she turned her attention back to Cordelia.  
  
  
  
"Don't worry.uh be happy.uh.you'll be okay.think happy thoughts.not like that your back is broken and you'll never walk again and guys won't look at you anymore and you'll have to get those weird.," Anya started to say sincerely at first before her imagination and concern got the better of her and she began to ramble off at the mouth.  
  
  
  
"That's supposed to make me feel better.sorry Anya but you have the worst bedside.," Cordelia mumbled with a slightly tired smirk on her face as Anya looked on and lightly patted the former cheerleaders shoulder.  
  
  
  
"Really.Xander always said that I was really good in bed.," Anya stammered out with a thoroughly confused and slightly hurt look on her face as she seemed to stop and ponder that thought for a few seconds before Cordelia interjected a few thoughts of her own.  
  
  
  
"Ewww.way too much information.I so did not need to hear that," Cordelia said with a mock look of disgust on her face as she scrunched it up and turned away, trying to get at least a look at how the fight in the lobby was going.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Ever since Giles had sent him away Connor had been furiously searching the hotel for anything that could be used as a backboard. However after violently rifling through a few different rooms Connor came to the conclusion that he wasn't exactly sure what a backboard truly was, but if it would help Cordelia then he'd find one, no matter who got in his way or how long it took. The process had been slowed down somewhat by the untimely and rather annoying arrival of a few mercenaries and a robed magic user. But Connor had taken them out quickly enough, and after making sure that he hadn't actually killed any of them, he returned to searching through the room for something to be used as a backboard.  
  
  
  
Absentmindedly Connor had left the doors of the various rooms that he had checked open so needless to say it was a pretty easy trail for Xander to follow. Along the way he had many things that could be used to ferry Cordelia out of harms way but in the end he just grabbed an old stretcher and followed after Connor. When Xander found him Connor was just about to smash in another door.  
  
  
  
"Whoa.easy there big.door smashing guy.," Xander said with a bit of trepidation in his voice as he gingerly laid a hand on Connor's shoulder. Connor didn't seem to be too happy about someone stopping him from furthering his quest and the fact that it was to him, a complete stranger, didn't help matters any.  
  
  
  
"What are you doing.get out of my way," Connor said with a restrained look of anger on his face as he desperately wanted to hurt and even maim this stranger that was getting in his way. Xander quickly got the hint and pulled his hand back before he cleared his throat and nervously stepped in between Connor and the door.  
  
  
  
"Easy now.do you even know what you're looking for," Xander asked with a sympathetic look of sullen submission on his face as he brought his hands up in a defensive manner, hoping that Connor wouldn't just decide to use him as a battering ram to open the door.  
  
  
  
"Of course I do.now get out of my way," Connor growled angrily and nervously before he grabbed Xander and threw him halfway down the hall. With a short look over at Xander Connor reared back and smashed in the door, and was completely shocked and surprised to find himself staring almost face to face with six angry robed magic users.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Sitting in the back seat of her parked car behind the Hyperion Lilah had at first been receiving almost constant updates on the progress of the different teams, from the small army of mercenaries as well as from the robed magic users. But now she was having trouble raising too many of the mercenaries and there was one cell of robed magic users that she couldn't get a hold of. All in all thoughts that she didn't want to think began to creep into the back of her mind. As the new head of the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart she was a very powerful woman with an almost unlimited amount of money and resources at her disposal, nothing frightened her, well almost nothing. Two things, neither of which she would ever admit to, scared her to death every time her thoughts even brushed their surface. One thought was if the senior partners became unimpressed and unsure of her ability to serve them in her current position. The other one, much to her horror, was being fully realized, that the man she loved had most likely switched sides and allied himself fully now with the prey that she was hunting that night. She scowled in anger and some fear as she decided to try and contact that silent cell of robed magic users again.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Throughout most of the fight Gunn had stayed hidden behind the tables, making sure that Fred, who had initially tried to stand up but then had become dizzy and crumpled back to the floor before Gunn caught her, was alright. He dared not leave her side for fear that one of the many mercenaries, or one of the few remaining demons, would come across her and recognize her. He could only dream of what their orders were that involved the woman that he loved more than the world to him. Sure he had dispatched a mercenary or two during the fight but Gunn could feel the anger rising in him, the anger at not being able to be out there helping his friends, and so there he was, using a broken off table leg as the only weapon standing between him and whatever came his way. For her part Fred had pushed herself further into the smashed and twisted pile of tables and broken furniture, hoping to use it as cover. She had reassured Gunn more than once that she was okay enough for him to leave her and help Angel and the others, but as to his nature Gunn was to stubborn, and loyal, to leave her side.  
  
  
  
"Charles please.I'll be fine, go help Angel.and the others.," Fred sputtered out through pained winces as she brought her feet in closer to her and hugged her knees to her chest.  
  
  
  
"I don't care Fred.I'm not leaving you here all.a.lone," Gunn started to say with a stern but yet soft tone to his voice and look on his face before he was interrupted by what sounded like an earthquake. But he, and all of the others in the lobby, soon found out that the sound had nothing at all to do with an earthquake as seemingly half of one of the lobby's walls exploded in a shower of plaster and wallpaper before a massive shape could be seen through the haze. The last thing Fred saw before Gunn threw himself on top of her was the massive cloud of debris screaming towards them across the lobby's floor.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 16 


	17. Shocks, Surprises, and One Big Mutha

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.  
  
Author's Note: Hope everyone's enjoying this.almost done.thanks for the reviews.I might write a sequel to this.depending on fan reaction.thanks again for reading.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER 17-Shocks, Surprises, and One Big Mutha.  
  
  
  
Xander couldn't see what was inside the room from his vantage point halfway down the hall but from what he could see he knew that what Connor had found wasn't even close to what he had expected. Whatever it was Connor stood in the doorway for a few seconds, seemingly trying to figure out whether whatever was inside the room posed a threat to him or not. Xander was about to call out to him when he saw Connor's body jerk to attention before diving to the floor, just as a red bolt of lighting rushed over him and slammed into the wall where he had once been standing. The thought of running back to get Buffy flashed quickly through his mind, but it was quickly replaced by another, crazier idea. "I should get Buffy.wait.that's what I always do.not this time Harris.this time you're the hero," Xander thought with a scared look on his face before the look changed to his bravest one. As he rose to his feet he could hear the sounds of a struggle coming from the room. With a large sigh and shrug of his shoulders Xander took off in a run, getting to the doorway just before he had to duck back out of the way as a heavily robed figure went sailing by him, finally slamming into the wall and then collapsing to the floor in a heap. Xander hesitated in the doorway for a few seconds as he pondered what he saw in the room, Connor fighting valiantly against four heavily robed figures while a fifth seemed to be apart from the others, readying what sounded like a spell. "Oh no you don't," Xander shouted triumphantly as he rushed across the room and caught the robed magic user completely off guard, in fact right in the middle of a particularly hard part of the incantation, as he leapt onto the guys back and used his momentum to send the robed magic user towards the nearest wall.  
  
  
  
Xander jumped off of the robed magic user as he slowly slid down the wall, knocked unconscious from his head colliding with the wall. On the other side of the room Connor was completely oblivious to Xander even being in the room, let alone the fact that the carpenter had taken out one of the magic users for him. With a slightly triumphant sigh and smile Xander was about ready to congratulate himself when he was almost knocked off of his feet as the hotel shook beneath him. "What the hell was that," Xander shouted fearfully as he turned back towards Connor, just in time to see one of the robed magic users abandon his attack on Connor and charge his way.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Wes look out," Faith shouted breathlessly before the Fyarl demon grabbed Wesley, pinning his arms to his sides and making the knife that he had been holding clatter to the floor, and proceeded to smash right through the wall. Faith started to follow, choking through the cloud of old plaster, but was stopped just short of the now gaping hole in the wall as the Fyarl demon charged back through the hole and slammed its shoulder into her chest, sending her flying back up against the far wall. She shook her head angrily and was about ready to leap back to her feet when the Fyarl demon growled at her and flung Wesley straight at her.  
  
  
  
Rather than let Wesley slam headlong into the wall Faith moved to catch him, and almost instantly regretted it. Instead of catching Wesley like she had intended her left foot slipped and the force of his body crashing into her sent the pair right back up against the wall. Seeing an opportunity the Fyarl demon growled loudly and charged towards the pair. The demon was just about ready to stomp on a surprised Wesley when a giant shudder rocked the hotel, causing the Fyarl demon to stagger around as it tried to regain its balance.  
  
  
  
"Faith, are you.," Wesley spat out painfully as he pulled himself up to a kneeling position, ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder. Beside him Faith rolled over onto her back before muttering her response.  
  
  
  
"I've been better," Faith muttered sarcastically, with a hand to her temple, as she sat up and smile faintly at Wesley. Wesley started to form a reply but was cut off by an angry growl from the Fyarl demon as it regained its balance and took a step towards them.  
  
  
  
Gathering its feet together the Fyarl demon jumped halfway across the room and landed in between Faith and Wesley, much to its evil delight. The demon then reached down and grabbed Faith arm before it started to squeeze with all its might, delighting greatly with the look of intense pain on her face. She was about to scream out in pain when Wesley scrambled over, retrieved his knife, and buried it hilt deep in the Fyarl demons back. In the end Faith's scream was drowned out by the pain and anger filled howl of the Fyarl demon as it tried in vain to reach the knife and wrench it from its back. In its vain attempt the Fyarl demon flung Faith back out into the hallway.  
  
  
  
"Faith," Wesley yelled angrily with a hint of fear in his voice as he scrambled after Faith and got to her just as she was struggling to sit up with a dark bruise already forming on her arm. For a short time his watcher training took over and he tried to get Faith to stay seated, but in her exuberance and anger she brushed him off and bolted to her feet.  
  
  
  
Drawing her own knife Faith rushed back into the room before she began to slowly stalk the injured Fyarl demon, watching as it slowly spun in circles while it tried to pull Wesley's knife from its back. She waited for a few seconds before she caught the break that she had been waiting for. With a small yell she pounced onto the demons back and wrapped one arm over its shoulder while with the other hand she drove the point of the knife straight into the Fyarl demons neck. From out in the hall Wesley watched in both worry and excitement before he saw the Fyarl demon stagger around as its blood gushed out of the wound in its neck. With one great and final shudder the Fyarl demon swayed wildly to one side before it collapsed headlong into the wall, causing the knife jutting out of its neck to be driven in even further. For her part Faith released her hold on the demons neck and had scrambled away and ended up in a backwards crawl position just beside Wesley as the Fyarl demon breathed its last.  
  
  
  
Neither spoke until several moments after they were both sure that the Fyarl demon was good and dead. And when one finally spoke up it was Wesley, seemingly speaking for the both of them with both the content of his question and the feelings behind them. "Are you okay," Wesley said with a worried and slightly pained look on his face as he slowly brought a hand up and began to softly caress Faith's cheek with the back of that hand.  
  
  
  
"Well other than the freaky bruise that I'm already starting to get on my arm I'm fine.what about you," Faith started to say loudly in her usual sarcastic tone before she turned to look at Wesley with a worried and somewhat scared look on her face as her voice softened and her gaze locked onto Wesley's.  
  
  
  
"Fine.," they both said softly in unison as the distance between them quickly decreased until their lips met in relief and happiness.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Even though Gunn had thrown himself on top of her Fred still got enough of the dust, dirt, and plaster cloud to cause her to feel like she had coughed up a lung trying to clear her breathing. Nearby Gunn had taken a deep breath and let it go quickly as he heard a pained groan from beside him. Reluctantly he sat up and then crawled over to investigate, but only after making absolutely sure that Fred was alright. He hadn't gone far when through the clearing haze of dust and dirt he could see Lorne trying in vain to push a table off of him. "Lorne.you okay," Gunn called out in between harsh coughs as the dust cloud continued to settle around him.  
  
  
  
"I'll be fine once we get rid of big ugly and gruesome up there," Lorne said fearfully as his gaze turned upwards and Gunn suddenly remembered the large figure that he had seen through the haze before the dust and dirt cloud had hit them.  
  
  
  
While Gunn was making sure that both Fred and Lorne were all right Angel had successfully managed to defeat any and all mercenaries that had crossed his path. And because of that he had stopped fighting them and set about trying to put out the fires that they were continuing to start. All that ceased however when the giant shudder tore through the hotel. He had only taken a few steps when he saw the cloud of dust and debris rapidly advancing towards him. With but a quick thought he dove to the floor behind an overturned table, mere seconds before the cloud hit.  
  
  
  
Spike and Buffy had ended up fighting almost back to back against the mercenaries, with each watching the others back, making sure that neither was caught unawares. More than once Buffy had to remind Spike not to kill any of the mercenaries, especially those that were aware of Spike's status as a vampire and so were using their flaming torches as weapons against him instead of using them to start fires. Spike was just about to give Buffy a hand back up off of the floor, after she had tripped over the body of one of the unconscious mercenaries, when the shudder hit. Buffy was about to deck another mercenary when Spike grabbed her around the waist, pulled her close, and then turned his back towards the approaching cloud of dust and debris, all the while trying to cover Buffy up as much as possible.  
  
  
  
Giles hadn't had to good of luck ever since leaving Cordelia's side and most likely would have been knocked out if not killed had Dawn not remembered some of her training and landed a sharp kick to that particular mercenaries jaw. In fact Giles didn't even notice as the mercenary slowly slumped to the ground with a joyous Dawn standing overtop of him. When the shudder hit Giles was just about to scold Dawn and tell her to go and stay with Anya and Cordelia, but he barely had time after that to try and realize what had happened before the cloud of dust and debris hit them.  
  
  
  
When the shudder hit Cordelia cried out in pain and Anya half screamed mostly out of shock. Almost instinctively Anya reached out and cupped one of her hands over Cordelia's nose and mouth and put her other hand over her own mouth and nose just before the cloud of dust and debris enveloped them. When Anya cautiously opened her eyes to look around the first thing that she could see what a frazzled and dust covered Willow staggering towards them through the clearing cloud of dust and debris, coughing as she went. "Willow.what happened," Anya said quickly as she tried to keep her hand as close to her mouth as she could while still allowing her to be clearly understood.  
  
  
  
"I.I don't.what's wrong with Cordelia," Willow choked out quickly as she knelt down beside Cordelia and Anya.  
  
  
  
"I don't know, Giles said for me to stay with her until he got back, but now I can't see him.and I'm afraid.," Anya started to say with an exasperated look on her face before the look changed to one of a quiet fear.  
  
  
  
"Hey.what's going on.where's Connor.where's Giles," Cordelia chipped in angrily as had she not been injured she would have thrown a huge hissy-fit, so in the end she resorted to glaring up at Willow and Anya.  
  
  
  
"I don't.wait there he is.right next to that mountain of a demon," Anya said cheerfully at first with a relieved smile on her face as she finally located Giles before her look changed to a serious and slightly confused one as she finished her observation. Willow was about to ask a question when all three women suddenly jerked to attention, with Cordelia only able to gasp as her eyes grew wide in both fear and panic, mouthing the last few words of what Anya had just said.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
  
  
To say Lilah Morgan was simply furious was a tremendous understatement. After not being able to reach even one of the robed magic users inside the hotel now she found herself unable to reach any of the mercenaries that were inside the hotel. Under heavy guard she had gotten out of her limo and had walked around to the front of the Hyperion, mostly just to make sure that not everyone had abandoned her and that she still had control of at the very least the snipers that had entrenched themselves in and on the surrounding buildings. She was only somewhat relieved that she could see more than one of the snipers in their positions, but what troubled her even further was the fact that those snipers that she could see didn't really look like they were even paying attention to what was going on in the street down below let alone what was happening across the street at the Hyperion. "What the hell is going on here," Lilah growled angrily as she grabbed the nearest mercenary by the collar and pulled him close.  
  
  
  
"What do you mean.," the mercenary stammered out with a confused and somewhat scared look on his face as he tried his best to not look Lilah in the eye.  
  
  
  
"What I mean is why in the hell are my snipers removing themselves from their positions and why can't I raise anyone inside that damn hotel," Lilah shouted loudly right into the face of the mercenary, which caused the mercenary to flinch slightly. A voice from behind answered her question.  
  
  
  
"Because the senior partners are unhappy with you Lilah.and have put me in charge," the voice said with a hint of excitement and revenge before Lilah felt the hot point of a knife slide into her back.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"What are you still doing here.I don't need your help," Connor asked for the second time with a very angry and impatient scowl on his face as Xander backed up a step with his hands up in a defensive manner and a small smile on his face.  
  
  
  
"Hey, the G man sent me to help you find something to help Cordelia, now I don't usually help old girlfriends like this but for Cordy I'll make an exception," Xander said with a slightly defeated look on his face as he slowly began to look around the room, even going so far as to pull one of the unconscious robed magic users off of a pile of debris, to search for something to help Cordelia.  
  
  
  
"What.Cordelia was never your.she wouldn't.she couldn't," Connor said with a thoroughly confused look on his face as he seemed to not be able to accept even the thought of Cordelia and Xander ever being boyfriend and girlfriend.  
  
  
  
"She would and she did.but that was back in high school.she's obviously moved up.or should I say.down.the scale since then," Xander said jokingly with a slightly sarcastic tone to his voice that was completely lost on Connor, who seemed to be about ready to explode from a combination of anger and confusion. But before Connor could do anything to Xander a loud and ear shattering scream tore through the hotel.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"What the fuck was that," Faith exclaimed with a shocked scowl on her face as she helped Wesley up off of the floor. After the defeat of the Fyarl demon the two had entered into a kiss that only ended when they heard the scream.  
  
  
  
"Sounds like Cordelia, there must be more trouble downstairs.let's go," Wesley said with a very worried scowl on his face as he sighed heavily and looked down at Faith, who returned the concerned look. Seconds later, after retrieving their knives from the Fyarl demons body and wiping the blood off, they tore off back through the hotel, back the way they came until they arrived at the top of the stairs that led up from the lobby.  
  
  
  
What they saw there would not be easily forgotten, although by now for the both of them they had seen and done so much that much of it had bled together so this night would probably end up much the same. There was a large demon, of a type and variety that no one in the lobby had any clue about, Spike and Angel were completely clueless about what they were facing, forcing them to spend most of their time and energy just trying to keep the others safe from the rampaging demon.  
  
  
  
"What the hell is that.," Faith exclaimed loudly with a look of confusion on her face and a small hint of fear in her voice.  
  
  
  
"I don't know, but whatever it is it's to dangerous to stay here.we have to kill it," Wesley shouted back with a matching look of confusion on his face and fear in his voice.  
  
  
  
"So what do we do about it.you'd need a fucking nuke to take that thing out," Faith said back with a frustrated scowl on her face as she and Wesley then had to dive to the floor to avoid being decapitated as the overly large demon hurled a broken table past them.  
  
  
  
"Sorry.but I don't think we have one of those.guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way.," Wesley shouted back as he momentarily looked at his knife before continuing, "But we'll need something a lot bigger than a bloody knife to do it.."  
  
  
  
"There's that accent again, if I didn't know better I'd swear that you had.other.more enjoyable.things on your mind," Faith said with an audible snicker and a broad smile on her face as she shook her head and allowed a grinning Wesley to help her to her feet.  
  
  
  
"There'll be plenty of time for that.later.watch out," Wesley started to say with a small snicker back as he and Faith began to hastily run down the stairs before they hit the bottom step and dove again to the floor to avoid another broken table.  
  
  
  
"Again with the table.seriously you should really think about branching out.because this is getting really old really fast," Faith taunted in her usual mocking manner as she crawled over to Wesley and pulled him along as they began their frantic search for weapons while one mistake by Spike got him the back of the demons hand to the chest that sent him flying back through what was left of the office.  
  
  
  
"Spike.," Dawn and Buffy shouted fearfully as they watched Spike's almost limp body go crashing through glass and wood alike. Buffy and Dawn hesitated for a second as one half of their instincts told them to go and help Spike while the other half told them to stay and fight. In fact they got so wrapped up in listening to their instincts that neither noticed when the overly large demon turned its attention to them and swung its massive arm their way.  
  
  
  
"Buffy.," Angel shouted desperately at the top of his lungs as he jumped to push Buffy out of the way, only to end up receiving the same punishment that Spike got, however with Angel he landed hard on Spike just as the younger vampire with a soul was struggling to sit up.  
  
  
  
"Angel.no.," was all that Buffy could get out before everything went black.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 17 


	18. Chaos, The Fight, And A Misunderstanding

SECOND CHANCES  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.  
  
CHAPTER 18-Chaos, The Fight, And A Misunderstanding  
  
  
  
Neither Connor nor Xander knew what was happening in the hotel's lobby but both were seasoned enough to know, along with the screams, that whatever it was the people they loved were in trouble and needed help. Connor had hastily grabbed what looked like just an extra piece of wood that was shaped about the size of a small surfboard after having hastily determined that it was what he was looking for that could help Cordelia. In fact he had almost knocked Xander over on his rush back out of the room. After that Connor had begun to race back through the halls of the hotel, hoping to get back to the lobby in time to protect Cordelia. Xander tried his best to follow but he soon discovered that no matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't keep up with Connor.  
  
  
  
In his rush to get back and help Cordelia Connor was running so quickly and recklessly that he ended up knocking unconscious more than one mercenary that was trying to flee the scene. When Connor finally got back to the lobby he was in such a rush and was caught so unready by the sight of the overly large demon raising hell in the lobby that he almost tripped over Cordelia.  
  
  
  
"Hey watch it Bigfoot.," Anya cried angrily as she glared up at Connor, for a moment forgetting the large amount of fear that gripped her. For a few moments Connor seemed too stunned by what was unfolding in front of him to respond.  
  
  
  
"Whatever.Cordelia," Connor muttered before almost shouting the ex- cheerleaders name as he dropped the makeshift backboard that he had brought back with him and knelt by her side with a very worried look on his face that was matched by the look on Cordelia's face.  
  
  
  
"Hmm.Connor.good.you're back," Cordelia mumbled out with a pained grimace on her face as she tried not to cry.  
  
  
  
"What happened.where'd that thing come from.," Connor started to say with a look of both anger and fear, not for his own safety but fear for mostly just Cordelia, on his face before he was cut off as a chunk of the wall went flying over their heads, making Anya throw herself off to the side and Connor throw himself over Cordelia.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Get off me Peaches.I'm not a bloody pillow," Spike growled angrily, momentarily slipping into his game face, as he tried to shove a groggy Angel off of him.  
  
  
  
"Shut up Spike.we have to help Buffy," Angel growled back while wearing his own game face as he struggled to get off of Spike and back up to his feet.  
  
  
  
"That's what I was trying to do before you decided to play Peter Pan and.," Spike started to say with a very angry scowl on his face, as he switched back to his human visage, before Angel turned back and reluctantly helped him back up to his feet. Not really feeling like continuing to fight both Spike and Angel turned back to look out into the lobby, and what they saw would have stopped both of their hearts had they not already stopped decades earlier. Buffy lay face down in a small pile of debris with what looked like a nasty cut on her temple that was bleeding. "Buffy," they both cried out in fear and anger as they charged back out of the remains of the office and rushed to her side. They were about ready to kneel down beside her when they looked up and noticed that the demon had noticed their return to the fight and now looked intent on putting them permanently out of the fight.  
  
  
  
"Dawn look out," Spike yelled as he launched himself back to his feet and took off towards the frightened teenager, getting to her and carrying her out of the way just as the demon brought a huge fist down where she had just been. "Stay here," Spike said sternly to Dawn after he noticed a sword lying nearby. Dawn started to disagree but Spike silenced her with a very cold and serious glare before he scrambled over and picked up the sword.  
  
  
  
"Buffy," Angel mumbled sadly as he slowly rolled Buffy over while trying to not catch the attention of the demon currently on a rampage in the lobby. As a tear tried its best to come out Angel gently put two fingers on Buffy's neck and checked for a pulse. A relieved smile spread across his face as he felt a strong pulse. "Just got knocked out," he said softly as he shrugged his shoulders before he heard Fred scream.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Wesley had been feverishly sifting through the remains of the shattered weapons cabinet when he heard Fred's scream. From her vantage point a few feet away Faith could see the conflict arise on his face. She could tell that a part of him wanted to abandon the search for the weapons and to turn around and go and help Fred. But then she saw another side come to the forefront, a side that she had to admit that she was really starting to love, a side that when she saw it Faith got the feeling that no matter what evil or troubling situation was facing them that they'd be able to get through it. She remember him wearing it more than once back in Sunnydale but back then she had mistaken it for pure smugness and arrogance, not realizing that even though he didn't look it back then Wesley had just as strong a fighting spirit as anyone, even her. But all those years spent in training to be a Watcher had conditioned him to think first and fight later.  
  
  
  
Throwing a shattered piece of wood to the side Faith could almost feel the small sliver of wood poking into her finger. Had she not been in such a hurry she would have stopped and taken the splinter out, but with the current condition as it was she simply didn't have the time. Beside her Wesley busied himself by hurriedly sifting through the broken weapons cabinet and alternating between casting a quick look over his shoulder to make sure that the demon wasn't advancing on them and to catch a quick look over at Faith, to make sure that she was still alright. When Faith happened to catch Wesley looking at her the emotions contained behind his gaze threatened to overwhelm her. The love for her that she saw there made her slightly scared, scared that no matter what she did she would never be able to live up, be good enough for him, but as she looked again the realization that he already thought of her as good enough gave her the courage to fight on and to hope for a future with him playing a big part in it.  
  
  
  
Finally Wesley found a battle axe to his liking and Faith found two short swords with spikes jutting out from the hand guards. With a mighty shrug of his shoulders Wesley spun around and charged the demon as he tried to come at it from as many different sides as he could, as Faith took an attacking position far enough away as to not get in his way but not far enough to get out of eyesight of him. Brandishing his weapon Wesley began to dodge and weave around the large demon, trying to draw its attention away from Fred and Gunn, who it seemed to be intent on stomping out. At first it didn't seem like the demon much cared that Wesley and Faith were even there, let alone causing it any damage. But when Faith jabbed one of her swords into the back of the demons left leg, just about the area where she hoped its Achilles tendon would be, the demon roared in anger and spun around to confront the rogue slayer.  
  
  
  
"Get away from her, Faith watch out," Wesley yelled angrily as acting upon pure emotion he surged forward and brought the blade of the axe down on the demons other leg just about the knee, hoping to draw its attention away from Faith. The blade of the axe however hitting its mark didn't do nearly as much damage as Faith's sword had done and in the end Wesley found himself roughly knocked off of his feet and the first thing that he saw when he pulled himself up to a sitting position before fully standing up was of a scared Gunn pulling a completely terrified Fred out of harms way.  
  
  
  
"Hey.whoa.oh shit," Faith yelled out angrily as she tried to dance her way around the demon's attacks but her foot slipped on the thin coating of the demons blood that was quickly spreading across the floor and she went down hard, flat onto her back, with one of her swords skittering across the floor and ending up just a few mere feet away from Angel. The demon quickly took note of Faith's predicament and went to stomp her into a greasy stain on the floor when Spike rushed over and pulled Faith out of the way just before the demon brought its foot down.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Across the floor Angel still held a comatose Buffy in his arms when he noticed the sword lying only a few feet away. A profound moment of indecision washed over him, on one hand he wanted to protect Buffy and keep her safe, but on the other hand if the overly large demon that was currently on a rampage in the hotel's lobby wasn't stopped then Buffy would always be in danger. It took him only a quick glance up, seeing how although they were fighting valiantly Spike, Wesley, and Faith would not be able to defeat the demon on their own, Angel made up his mind and rushed Buffy over and laid her beside Cordelia, ordering a frightened Anya and Willow to watch out for her, before retrieving the sword and joining the fight.  
  
  
  
Upon entering the fight Angel had to quickly duck to avoid the demons large fist as it took a giant swing at him. On the other side of the demon Angel could see Wesley dodging in and out of the demon's reach, axe in hand, as he tried to inflict as much damage on the demon as he could without taking to much himself, and for the most part it was working, although Wesley wasn't getting out completely unaffected. Angel couldn't see the cut but there was blood on the side of Wesley's head that looked pretty fresh. Faith and Spike on the other hand had experienced more luck than the former watcher, and Angel guessed at the reason being that although he could fight well Wesley was still only human and therefore couldn't possibly hope to do as well as a vampire and a slayer.  
  
  
  
Even though he had no clue as to exactly how to kill the demon or even if it could be killed Angel intended to do as much damage to the creature as he could before it demolished the entire hotel and hurt those that he loved. Had his heart been able to beat it would have been pounding like a jackhammer in his chest. He could see Faith and Spike split up and help to surround the demon so that now Angel was on the demons right side, Wesley was behind the demon, Spike was on the demons left side, and Faith was standing directly in front of the now wounded demon. From his side of the demon Angel could see Wesley try to dodge to one side or the other on his attacks so as to try and see Faith, making sure that she was still alright, a sight that didn't entirely surprise Angel for he knew that most likely Wesley still felt of Faith as his charge. But what surprised Angel the most was the look on Faith's face when she did the same and saw the blood on the side of Wesley's head, had she not been as strong as she was Angel felt that she would have most likely immediately rushed to his side, but she stood firm and the blood only seemed to make her angrier at the demon than she had previously been.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile Giles had made his way back over to Cordelia and with Connor and Xander's help had been able to get Cordelia up off of the floor and onto the makeshift stretcher that Connor had found. Doing her part Willow had cast a small healing spell on Cordelia and now helped to get the former cheerleader away from the lobby. Unsure of exactly what to do Anya followed Xander out of the lobby, with her last image of the lobby being of both Angel and Spike charging the overly large demon, weapons raised, with Faith beginning to circle around to go and check on Wesley. Connor was the first to speak up after they had all left the lobby. "Where are we going," he asked with a look of a cross between fear and confusion on his face.  
  
  
  
"To a hospital.she needs a doctor.and you need to get back into the lobby and protect Buffy and to help the others fight that demon," Giles puffed out quickly as the effort of helping to carry Cordelia through the hallways of the hotel was starting to get to him. When he finished he half expected to get his head bitten off by the look of shock and anger that flashed across Connor's face. But on a night of many shocks and surprises Giles was dealt another one when the look of anger on Connor's face passed without incident, and after saying a soft goodbye to Cordelia that was returned in barely audible mumbles, and he then turned and took off as fast as he could run back towards the lobby to go and help Angel and the others fight the demon.  
  
  
  
"He listened.Boy Wonder actually listened," Xander said with a look of disbelief on his face as he moved over and Anya reluctantly took Connor's place in helping carry Cordelia away from the lobby.  
  
  
  
"That's true.but which side will he choose.he hates Angel even though he's his father.what if he chooses to stake Angel.what if he.," Anya started to say with a concerned scowl on her face as she looked up first at Giles, and then around and Willow and then finally over at Xander.  
  
  
  
"That's.that's true.he could.all that rage.all that concern over Cordelia," Willow stuttered out fearfully as she deftly avoided Giles' withering gaze.  
  
  
  
"Connor will do what is right, even though he hates Angel.he'll do what's right.now come on, we must hurry," Giles said sternly as he tried his best to cover up the fair amount of fear that he was feeling about whether or not Connor would actually do the right thing or take the golden opportunity given him and rid himself of Angel. Xander momentarily looked up with a questioning look on his face as if he was preparing to interject something but he stopped abruptly and kept quiet as he helped Giles and the others carry Cordelia further away from the lobby.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
Out in the streets around the Hyperion the mercenaries that could still walk were pouring out of the hotel, and joining the snipers that had vacated their positions around the hotel, as they barely noticed the finely dressed woman's body lying on the sidewalk with a knife sticking out of her back and blood oozing everywhere. Neither that nor the roughly dressed man standing over her with a look of little apology on his face as he seemed to almost take some small amount of joy in the woman's death and could care less what anyone else thought. The few robed magic users that had made it back out of the hotel recalled their actions to their superiors before mysteriously vanishing into the shadows.  
  
  
  
The senior partners had made sure that neither the police nor the paramedics would be called to an emergency of any sort to that spot outside of the Hyperion. They had invested far too much intelligence and resources to then see it blow up in their faces. And because of that they had, like they had many times before, simply laid all of the blame at the one that had been in charge of the mission and selected the next person in charge to get their team out with as little damage to them as they could, all while doling out the proper punishment on the last leader. And in this case like many others the proper punishment was death. And so on that cold and dreary night in the city of angels Lilah Morgan died.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
"Wes..Wes," Faith shouted with a great deal of fear and worry in her voice that she no longer tried to hide as she pulled Wesley away from the demon and its attempts to kill Spike and Angel.  
  
  
  
"Is he alright," Dawn yelled timidly as she rushed to Faith's side and helped her pull a tired and beaten up Wesley away from the fight. As soon as Faith and Dawn had pulled Wesley far enough away Dawn stepped back and took note of Wesley and Faith. Faith seemed to not have changed that much, other than grown up as per the natural way, her hair was longer and fuller and she seemed to have spent her time in prison well, in the end the sight of the rogue slayer made Dawn swallow very hard. The groggy ex-watcher on the ground in front of her looked nothing at all like the bookish coward that everyone had told her repeatedly about, with Xander most of all being the one to make fun of the former watcher, using him as the brunt of many jokes. Right now he looked more like one of the hero's from the war movies that Xander seemed to love so much. But what sent a shiver down her spine was the sight of the ghastly scar on his neck. She hadn't seen it when she had helped Faith drag him away from the demon and now her hand began to tremble as the thought flashed through her mind that it was both highly possible and highly probable that Faith caused that injury. With a thoroughly frightened look on her face Dawn slowly began to back up, all the while keeping her eyes locked onto Faith, who still held a sword in her hand and looked extremely worried and pissed at the same time.  
  
  
  
"He'd better be.wait Dawn.what.oh no wait.you don't.I didn't.," Faith started to say with a very concerned scowl on her face, as she knelt down beside Wesley, before she looked up and noticed a frightened Dawn slowly backing away after seeing the scar on Wesley's neck and Faith's mind quickly deduced what Dawn must be thinking.  
  
  
  
"No.just.stay away," Dawn shot back with a cross between an angry look on her face, that Faith had to admit reminded her of Buffy, and one of complete fear as she stumbled backwards before she turned and began to run away, finally stopping as she got to Buffy's side and Connor charged back into the room.  
  
  
  
"Shit," Faith growled under her breath as she debated whether or not to go after Dawn and try to explain but she knew that she didn't have the time for it and so she turned her attention back to Wesley, who by now was sitting up and trying to take stock of the situation.  
  
  
  
END OF CHAPTER 18 


	19. Worry, Confusion, And A Threat

**SECOND CHANCES**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.**

**CHAPTER 19-WORRY, CONFUSION, AND A THREAT**

Although she knew that she needed to find Dawn and try to straighten out the misunderstanding, hopefully before the younger Summers could get to Buffy and tell her, Faith knew that her first priority was to the health and safety of her former watcher.  Whereas at one time the sight of Wesley, with blood running down his temple, sitting on the ground trying to keep from passing out would have truly not affected her a great deal.  But after the events of the past few days that same sight sent shivers down her spine and a feeling in the pit of her stomach that even though it was new it was a feeling that she knew that she never wanted to feel again.  It was such a sense of loss and dread, like a hole that could never be filled.  "Wesley," Faith tried to say just loud enough for him to hear but in her fear for his safety she ended up almost shouting it.  

"Hmm…Faith…did we win," Wesley mumbled softly as he desperately tried to keep from drifting off to sleep.

"Not yet Wes…not yet…," Faith stated back to him with a smile on her face as she looped her left arm around his waist and pulled him back up to his feet as best she could as she noticed that the overly large demon had once again turned their way.  

"Bloody shame," Wesley mumbled with a rueful grin on his face as Faith gently pulled him back through the hole in the wall that the demon had made and set him down a short distance down the hall.  

"There you go again with the accent…you're just trying to make me go all weak in the knees aren't you," Faith said with a small laugh as she knelt down beside Wesley and ran a hand through his filthy hair.  For a second or two after that Wesley closed his eyes and laid there silent, sending another shiver down Faith's spine as the smile on her face quickly changed to a slight trembling of her bottom lip.  "Wes…hey Wes…c'mon Wesley…open your eyes…stay with me…," Faith started to say breathlessly before at the end she was again almost shouting at him.  Faith was about ready to get drastic in trying to get a response from Wesley when he coughed and slipped an eye open.

"I…I'm here…don't worry Faith you're not going to get rid of me that easily…I'm going to be around for a long time to come," Wesley started to say with a tired look on his face before his words were cut off as Faith wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight bear hug.  And for the second time since showing up outside of his apartment Faith, without sobbing, let loose a tirade of tears.

"Don't scare me like that Wes, for once in my life I have something…someone…good and I intend to do things right this time," Faith started to say softly but seriously as she unwrapped her arms from around Wesley and wiped away a few tears before leaning in close and crushing her lips against his in relief, completely missing Spike's limp body that smashed into the wall nearby and slumped to the ground.

*                 *                 *                *                  *                 *                 *                     *

At first Dawn had only one thought that kept running through her mind, that being that Faith was out and hurting people again, starting with her former watcher, and if she weren't careful Faith would probably come after her next.  When she was what she thought far enough away Dawn turned and cautioned a quick look back, and was surprised that she could no longer see Faith or Wesley.  Her next thought was that she had to find Buffy and warn her of what Faith had done.  Carefully avoiding the demon's now extremely angry attacks, aimed mostly at Angel as Spike had stumbled and gotten a backhand across his face, Dawn scrambled over to the last place that she had seen Buffy.  "Buffy…," Dawn shouted fearfully as she saw Buffy lying on the ground with a pained expression on her face and a hand on her forehead as she was using her other arm to prop herself up.

"D…Dawn…what's going on, what happened, where's Spike…and Angel," Buffy shouted angrily as she rolled over and got to her hands and knees, all the while ignoring Dawn's attempts to help her up.  

"It's Faith…she…she's back…and she hurt what's his name again…Wesley…," Dawn stammered out almost faster than her mouth could process all of the information that her brain was trying to convey.  The look of fear combined with worry and regret on Buffy's face chilled Dawn to the bone.

"Faith…here…she's out, how," Buffy questioned out loud as she painfully pushed herself back up to her feet just as Connor stormed back into the lobby almost knocking her back off of her feet.  

"Watch out," Connor growled angrily as he awkwardly danced to the right of Buffy and barely registered that he even noticed the death glares that Buffy and Dawn aimed at him.  

"You should watch where you're going you…," Dawn started to shout angrily as she took a step towards Connor and brought a hand up to close it into a fist and accentuate her point.  But before she could finish her angry thought she was interrupted by Buffy shouting out in fear.

"Spike," Buffy shouted as loudly as she could as she began to reach her hand out to try and alert Spike to watch out for the demon trying to hit him.  But her alert to him only ended up being the cause of him stumbling and letting the demon slam him back away from it and up against the wall, with the sword that he had been holding in his hand sent spinning harmlessly away into a pile of rubble.  

*                *              *               *               *                *                 *                  *           *

For the most part during the entire battle first with the mercenaries and then the overly large demon Gunn had been trying to make sure that both Fred and Lorne were safe.  At first Fred had been alright, but then when the mercenaries had come storming into the lobby shouting loud enough to wake the dead and seemingly appearing out of nowhere she had flashed back to her days in Pylea and had curled up into the fetal position and commenced balling like a small baby.  Knowing he couldn't leave her like that long enough to fight Gunn had, as best he could, to pick her up into his arms and rush her to one of the back rooms.  After yelling angrily at the empathy demon for half a dozen times Gunn was about to punch him when Lorne suddenly regained his senses and helped Gunn get Fred back out of the lobby.  In fact he had barely even noticed when Connor and Xander had gone rushing by him with the piece of wood that they had ended up using as a makeshift backboard.  

When they had gotten far enough away Gunn had begun to smash open the door of one of the rooms when Lorne had very sheepishly simply turned the doorknob and opened the door.  Before Gunn could come up with a biting retort Lorne had hurriedly ushered the two inside the room, with a little snappy banter of his own, and quickly shut the door behind them.  As gently as he could Gunn had laid Fred down on the bed and sent Lorne into the bathroom to get a damp washcloth.  When Lorne got back Gunn had placed the washcloth on Fred's forehead in an effort to try and snap her out of her self imposed state of paralysis.  Gunn and Lorne stayed in that room, watching closely after Fred, during the entire rest of the battle with the mercenaries and then the battle with the overly large demon.

*                      *                     *                       *                     *                     *                  *

Angel had just dodged out of the way of one attack when he saw the back of the demon's right hand connect with Spike's jaw and send the younger vampire with a soul flying back up against the far wall.  His first instinct was to go and make sure that Spike hadn't been permanently taken out of the fight but a part of his memory cut in with the knowledge that Spike had been through worse and come back to be a royal pain in the ass quickly enough.  What troubled him the most was the look on Buffy's face, and tone to her voice, when she shouted Spike's name.  The sight and sound filled Angel with the full range of emotions as a part of him desperately began to worry about both Buffy and Spike while the rest of him was trying to fight the overly large demon currently smashing another large hole right next to the first one.

*                 *                 *                  *                 *                 *                *                       *

Their kiss ended abruptly when the demon began to tear another hole in the wall, causing old plaster and a cloud of dust and dirt to completely envelop them.  Faith backed away a small step and moved her arm in front of her facing, hoping to try and block some of the cloud that was forcing her to cough so hard that her chest was beginning to hurt.  Wesley meanwhile groggily as best he could he pulled his collar up over his mouth and nose in his attempt to keep from breathing in any more of the cloud than he had to.  Through the throbbing pain in his head Wesley was able to connect enough thoughts together that told him what he needed to do next, and rather than acting on pure instinct he tried to struggle back up to his feet but was only able to get halfway up before he bumped into Faith, knocking her back down as she was trying to do exactly what he was doing.  Had she not been trying to get away from the almost continuous cloud of dust and debris and trying to not get herself and Wesley killed Faith would have most likely angrily demanded an apology from the former watcher.  But with the circumstances being as they were she quelled her angry thoughts and feelings and allowed Wesley to pull her up to her feet before the pair began to awkwardly run down the hall, finally stopping after they had rounded a corner and were out of the radius of the cloud and out of the demon's line of vision.  

"Are you…okay," Wesley said after a fit of coughing, that ended up causing his throat to feel very dry and raw, as he turned to look at Faith, who was now like him almost completely covered head to toe in dust and dirt.  

"Sure…I just tried to hack up half a lung but thanks to my…slayer healing I'll be fine," Faith shot back trying to sound and act angry but the small smile that curled the edges of her mouth gave her true feelings away.  

"I don't think…any weapon that we have is capable of killing that thing...it was obviously called here by magic…so what we need is a powerful enough wielder of magic to reopen the portal and send that thing back where it came from," Wesley said forcefully, to Faith sounding a great deal like he used to when he was her watcher and acted like he knew everything that there was to know, as he cautioned a glance around the corner to confirm exactly where the demon was.  

"Great plan Wes…I'll just go to the nearest powerful magic wielder shop and get one…oh wait there aren't any…," Faith exclaimed with a great deal of mockery in her voice at first before she saw the hurt look on Wesley's face and instantly she was filled with a tremendous amount of regret, wishing she could take back every word.  "Sorry Wes," Faith said, her voice tinged with a great deal of regret, as she reached up and laid a hand on Wesley's shoulder.

"It's forgotten…do you know where Willow is…she may be powerful enough to do away with that demon," Wesley said with a sigh and a wave of his hand as he turned back to Faith and tried to project a look of confidence instead of the underlying sense of fear that Willow wasn't powerful enough to do the job.  

"I'm not sure…I think she was helping Giles and the others carry Cordelia out of the lobby…but then Dawn showed up to help me pull you out and she saw your scar and thought that I did it…," Faith started to say with a very thoughtful look on her face before the look changed to one of a small amount of almost angry worry when she continued.  "But before I could tell her that I didn't she had run off, B's probably looking for me right now," Faith finished with a very frustrated scowl on her face.

"I think Buffy is a little preoccupied with that demon right now Faith…if we all live through this we'll have plenty of time to correct that misunderstanding…and any others that will have arisen," Wesley exclaimed softly before leaning back towards the corner and taking another look around it for the demon.

"What if we just open another portal to some hell dimension and shove that ugly lard-ass through…end of problem, why can't we do that," Faith said with a tinge of excitement in her voice as she grabbed Wesley's wrist and pulled him back to face her.  

*

*

*

"We could do that I guess…but the books and supplies that we'd need were in the office…," Wesley started to say with an almost upbeat look on his face before he seemingly realized what he was saying and the low likelihood of it ever happening.

"The office that now looks like World War three hit it…," Faith said begrudgingly admitting to herself that the pessimistic look on Wesley's face told her all that she needed to know about the futility of trying to use the books and supplies in the office.  

"That's the one…," Wesley started to say with a sad frown on his face before a tremor shook the hotel so hard that both Wesley and Faith were knocked to the ground.  "Bloody hell," Wesley growled angrily as when he and Faith tried to stand up another tremor shook the old hotel and the two were again knocked off of their feet.  

"Now what," Faith yelled so harshly that she made it sound like a curse as she was finally able to pull herself back to her feet before she turned to help Wesley up as well.  

"I don't know, but whatever it is it can't be good, come on," Wesley said with a deep sense of foreboding as he took Faith's hand and ,after making sure that the demon was no longer in their immediate area, pulled her back towards the lobby.

*                    *                    *                    *                 *                *               *                   *

Connor watched without much feeling as Spike was sent slamming up against the far wall.  Angel had told him very little about Spike, but what he had told him didn't make Connor to eager to get to know, in essence, his nephew.  He was far more concerned with Cordelia's condition however the look of fear on Dawn's face made him glad that he hadn't argued with Giles and had returned to the lobby to help in the fight against the overly large demon that was currently turning the Hyperion into a disaster area.  Even though he didn't know her Connor hated to see Dawn afraid.  As he slowly took an assessment of how the battle was going Connor's mind drifted back to the many years that he had spent with Holtz in Quartoth, where he had been repeatedly told that he should only save those that he thought he could save without taking to much damage himself.  But ever since he had crossed through the dimensional rift into Los Angeles Connor had found that no matter how hard he tried he simply could not bear to see anyone in fear for their life.  

He was about to spring into battle when the front doors of the Hyperion were sent flying clear across the lobby by a powerful explosion that rocked the entryway.  Being closer to Dawn than Buffy was Connor pushed Dawn to the ground and dove on top of her with Buffy hitting the ground nearby.  Connor was about to let Dawn up with another explosion ripped through the Hyperion, blowing the large demon off of its feet and sending it crashing through another wall.  "Are you okay," Connor asked with a somewhat concerned look on his face as he rolled off of Dawn and helped her sit up.

"Yeah…I think…thanks…what was that," Dawn stammered out slowly as she tried to quickly take in the situation.  

"I don't know but…," Connor began to respond before Buffy interrupted him as she scrambled over to check on Dawn.

"Dawn, are you okay," Buffy exclaimed as she finally reached Dawn and put a hand on her shoulder. 

"I'm fine Buffy…but who's that…," Dawn started to say with almost a look of annoyance on her face before she turned her gaze to the still smoking entrance of the hotel and saw the two figures enter.  

*                   *                 *                  *                     *                   *                 *               *

When the front doors of the Hyperion had gone sailing over his head Angel had ducked down behind a pile of broken tables and chairs.  He had been thankful that during the first few moments of whatever it was that was going on all of the guests had quickly exited the lobby, for the last thing that he needed was to have to worry about an innocent bystander getting hurt.  He was almost glad for a second or two when the large demon was knocked off of its feet.  But that split second of glee soon gave way to a quickly realized mountain of confusion and fear.  Confusion because standing in the shattered doorway was almost the very last person that he'd ever expected to see again coupled with fear at his presence coupled with the fact that standing beside him was a very powerful looking robed magic user.  "Lindsay…," Angel gasped as he pulled himself back to his feet and stared at the Hyperion's shattered entryway.  

"Angel…so nice to see you again…sorry about the mess, that was Lilah's fault, but she's no longer a concern…and neither is that demon that's making this fleabag of a hotel look like Swiss cheese," Lindsay started to say with at first an almost truly regretful look on his face before the look changed to an almost smug one.  As the demon howled its rage at being knocked off of its feet Lindsay barely cast a glance its way before he turned to the robed magic user beside him and said something to him, but to softly for anyone to hear.  When he was done the robed magic user nodded his head and then began to chant the words to an opening spell.  Before Angel could do anything a large portal opened beneath the demon and try as it might the whirlwind created by the portal overpowered the demon and sucked it away.

"Lindsay what…," Angel began to say with a now more angry scowl on his face as he began to advance towards the hotels burnt out entryway, sword in hand.  

"As stubborn as ever I see…if you're that interested in fighting I can have my friend here bring back that demon and you can fight it to your little hearts content…and I'll enjoy watching it kill you," Lindsay said with an emotionless look on his face as he stared down the advancing Angel for a bit before Angel stopped to consider what he had said.  "Or you can count your blessings…because next time you won't be so lucky," Lindsay continued with an almost arrogant smirk on his face.

"Next time…," Gunn, who unbeknownst to everyone else in the lobby had returned after leaving Lorne to watch over Fred, said with a very demanding look on his face before Lindsay simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'll be in touch," before turning and disappearing into the night with the robed magic user close beside him.

"That certainly doesn't bode well," Wesley stated very dryly as he and Faith walked side by side into the interior of the lobby, a short distance away from Gunn, who eyed the pair with a wary eye.  

"Wesley…Faith…what…why are you two dressed like…," Angel exclaimed with a confused scowl on his face as he seemed calm enough, but he kept a tight grip on his sword, just in case.  

"It's not what you think Angel…you see Wes and I…," Faith started to say as she gestured first to Wesley and then to herself as she took a step away from Wesley and towards Angel with as truthful a look on her face as she could muster at that moment.  

"Finally decided to stop pretending to be on our side and show your true colors," Gunn said forcefully as he stormed up into Wesley's face, almost daring the Brit to make the first move.  

"Ah Gunn…once again you've let your imagination run wild and jumped to the wrong conclusion," Wesley started to say with a frustrated scowl on his face before Gunn snapped and landed a hard right hook on Wesley's jaw which he followed by shoving his former friend up against the nearest wall and cocking his arm back, readying to throw another punch.  Before any of the others could even move Faith grabbed Gunn's cocked arm, spun him back far enough, and slammed her fist straight into his nose, almost knocking him off of his feet.  

"You wanna go ten rounds with someone then I'm your gal…but I swear you go near Wes again and I'll forget that I'm not supposed to kill humans," Faith growled angrily as she balled her hands into fists and glared down menacingly at Gunn, all the while everyone else in the lobby stood still, to shocked by the sudden turn of events to say anything.

END OF CHAPTER 19


	20. EndingsOne Way Or Another

**SECOND CHANCES**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.**

**Author's Note:  I'll write an epilogue if enough people want one.  **

**CHAPTER 20-ENDINGS…****ONE WAY**** OR ANOTHER**

After a few agonizing seconds of silence, with everyone still in the lobby either staring at Faith or at Gunn, Angel was the first to react.  Dawn had slipped behind Buffy and kept looking around at everyone, expecting someone to step up and do something.  Spike was just beginning to come to when Gunn had first hit Wesley and when Faith made her declaration he had just staggered back into the lobby and as such was pretty much unawares of exactly what was going on.  Connor seemed extremely tense, as if he expected a full blown war to break out at any second.  Buffy, meanwhile, stood as still as a stone, partially because she couldn't come up with a concrete plan of action and because she was torn between making sure Spike was alright and waiting for Angel to do something.  

"Faith…stop, you don't want to do this," Angel stammered out quickly as he brought a hand up and started to take a cautious step towards Faith.

"Do what…teach this Denzel wannabe a lesson…or dare to do the one thing that you couldn't…," Faith shot back with more than a touch of venom in her voice before Wesley stepped up and laid a hand on her shoulder.  

"Easy Faith," Wesley started to say with a very stern tone to his voice as he started to pull Faith back towards him but her slayer side, coupled with the parts of her that had developed to help her survive in prison, rose to the surface.

"Let go of me," Faith shouted angrily as she spun around and slammed her fist squarely into Wesley's stomach, causing him to choke for breath and instantly go down in a heap.  Seconds later a look of such shame, shock, regret, and fear leapt onto Faith's face as she seemed to consciously realize what she had just done.  A small solitary tear forced itself down her cheek as she dropped to her knees beside the gasping Wesley, suddenly looking more like a frightened child than the rogue slayer easily capable of killing everyone in the lobby.  "Oh God…Wes…Wes…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…Wes," Faith mumbled almost incoherently with now a small torrent of tears cascading down her cheeks as she scrambled to give Wesley as much aid as she could, reminding a scared Dawn of a terrified servant begging the king to not have him executed.  

"What the hell," Gunn sputtered out with a combination of confusion and fear in his voice, with the anger that had initially touched off the confrontation forgotten for the moment.  

"Hkk…Faith…I…I'm…fine," Wesley choked out through many abbreviated gasps as he tried to pull a sufficient amount of air back into his lungs.  

Everyone stood in a stunned silence for several moments, completely mesmerized by the sight in front of them.  Faith the rogue slayer, the woman who a few years earlier had tied her former watcher to a chair and took great joy in causing him tremendous amounts of excruciating pain, helping Wesley back to his feet and then over to sit in a chair that she hurriedly flipped over.  The whole time she acted as if she and Wesley were the only two people in the world.  For a moment Buffy wondered if it was all for show, as Faith did have an ample talent of showing fake emotion to gain sympathy and confidence before she'd turn around and stab you in the back.  But one glance at the look shared between the former watcher and the rogue slayer touched off a spark in her head, for she remembered having looked at Spike that same exact way only hours earlier, when she had found him sobbing quietly in the old kitchen.  Although she hadn't had much experience with that look herself she knew it well, mostly from watching it being displayed on the faces of other people, people who were oblivious to the constant danger in which they lived their lives, people who had the freedom to live their lives, people who didn't have to wake up every morning and leave the house wondering whether or not they'd be alive by the end of the night, people that were in love.

Close beside her Angel seemed to be getting the same impression of watching Faith and Wesley together as Buffy was.  But for him he discovered a small shower of pride welling up inside him, as he had tried more than most to get Faith to change, to show her the error of her ways.  And now that it looked like a great deal of his words had finally gotten through to her he was almost ecstatic about it, save for like Buffy the lingering doubt in the back of his mind whether or not Faith was playing them or not and the fact that in the end the person that seemed to have finally snapped Faith out of her road to hell was Wesley.  He slowly took a few steps towards Gunn and was just about to bend down to help him up when Buffy spoke up.

"What's going on here…Faith…what are you doing here, why aren't you in prison," Buffy said with a slightly fearful hitch to her voice caused Spike to snap his head up to attention and stare at her with a very worried look on his face from his vantage spot in the center of one of the holes that the overly large demon had created.  

"Not now B…," Faith muttered impatiently as she cast Buffy a quick glance over her shoulder before she knelt down in front of Wesley with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his knee.  The next few seconds ticked by with the tension in the air being almost palpable and it probably would have continued that way for some time had Wesley not raised his head and gasps filled the lobby as Buffy and Dawn saw the scar on Wesley's neck.

"Wesley…what happened," Buffy stammered out with a very concerned look on her face as she looked back and forth between the former watcher and Angel, who at the asking of the question seemed to shrink back a bit and look away.

"See…that's where Faith cut him…," Dawn started to say with a look of triumph on her face as Angel shook his head and Faith visibly cringed at the words.  

"Faith didn't do that…I swear," Angel said as calmly as he could as he turned to Buffy with a serious look on his face and his hands now only lightly holding the sword.

"What…but if she didn't then…," Buffy started to say with a look on her face as if she didn't know who or what to believe at that moment. 

"Justine did…don't bother asking who she is because if she's smart then she's long gone by now," Wesley said finally finding his breath as he sat up in the chair and looked directly at Buffy, with Faith following his gaze as she wiped away a few tears and sniffled a bit.  

"But…," Dawn stammered out with a completely lost look on her face as she looked around at everyone in the lobby, seemingly asking for one of them to clear up her confusion.

"Buffy…remember when I told you about Holtz taking Connor to Quartoth…," Angel began to say with an almost regretful tone to his voice as he turned to look at Buffy.

"Yeah…so what…," Buffy sputtered out slowly as she was starting to fit a few pieces together but still had a few glaring questions left unanswered.  

"Wesley made a deal with Holtz so that when they attacked us Connor would be far away from here…but Justine double crossed Wesley and took Connor from him…," Angel said with a sad look on his face, almost as if he partially blamed himself for allowing the situation to have gotten to that point.

"But not before slitting his throat and leaving him for dead…," Faith said interrupting with a worried look on her face as she slowly rose to her feet and kept her left hand on Wesley's shoulder.  

"Until Gunn and Fred found me and got me to the hospital in time…as for Gunn's aggression towards me…he let his fears control him," Wesley said with a slightly pained scowl on his face as he hadn't full gotten his breath back.  

"Funny…this coming from the guy that lied to us and went behind our backs to make a deal with our enemy…," Gunn said angrily as if in a challenge as he took an aggressive step towards Wesley but stopped suddenly when a very determined Faith stepped in between him and Wesley.

"Then answer me this Gunn…why didn't any of you do anything…that whole time I was researching about Connor and Angel you and Fred were to wrapped up in each other to see give a damn about me, Angel was to wrapped up in Connor and Cordelia…well she  was to busy with Gru to notice that I was a mere shadow of my former self, what happened to me didn't happen overnight, and you only had a problem with it when it inconvenienced you…," Wesley said very forcefully and with a determined look on his face as he stood up and against Faith's unspoken wishes took a step towards Gunn, ending up almost toe to toe with his former friend.  

"Keep talking English…keep talking…," Gunn said, his face an emotionless mask, as his fist clenched and he looked like he was about ready to throw another punch.  After several silent moments of Wesley and Gunn staring each other down Gunn chuckled a bit and started to turn away and everyone began to slowly take a collective sigh of relief but Gunn suddenly lurched back towards Wesley and took a swing at his head.  Seeing the punch coming before almost everyone else Faith started to shift her weight from her back foot to her front one to leap to Wesley's aid but he lifted his left arm and blocked the punch before throwing one of his own, landing his fist squarely into Gunn's nose.  He would have taken a second or two to revel in his actions had not a further complication arose that he knew was coming but had hoped wouldn't happen until much later.

"Charles," Fred shouted almost in a scream as she rushed into the lobby and headed straight for Gunn, with an exasperated and panting Lorne stumbling after her.  Wesley allowed Faith to pull him back a step and position herself in between as Fred dropped to her knees at Gunn side, who was holding his nose with one hand and pushing himself up off of the floor with the other.  

"Faith…what is going on," Buffy exclaimed now more confused then ever as she took a step towards Faith and didn't even notice the warning look that Angel was giving her.  With a sly smirk on his face Spike came up beside Angel, and kept the smirk even after Angel elbowed him with a furious glare on his face.  

"Be careful Peaches…you know what they say…you leave your face like that for to long and it'll freeze that way…course for you I'd say it'd be an improvement," Spike said widening his grin as a few feet away both vampires missed the stifled chuckle that Dawn caught just in time.  

"It's quite simple really…Wolfram and Hart got Faith out of prison to help them in their efforts to evict Angel from this hotel, but rather than help them she went to Wesley and together they formulated a plan that would both thwart that planned attack and also free her from at least some of the demons of her past," Giles said with his best Watcher explaining everything voice as he slowly walked through the hole that had been the Hyperion's front doors, the broken glass crunching underneath his feet.  

"Giles what…," Buffy said with a less confused look on her face than she had just a few minutes earlier as she met Giles at the base of the front steps.  

"After Lorne came to me and told me that Wolfram and Hart was planning an attack at the party tonight I knew that I had to do something, and then when I learned that they had planned to have Faith be here to cause a disruption I…amended the plans a bit, although I didn't know that all of this was going to happen," Wesley said in a commanding voice that almost matched the one Giles had used when he first came in.  

"Lorne…why didn't you tell me about this," Angel said trying to reign in the sudden burst of anger that he was feeling at the empathy demon.  

"Angel…I uh…I was going to…and then the party…someone asked me to sing a song or two…and then they attacked and…," Lorne stuttered out with a combination fearful and apologetic look on his face as he cringed slightly and took a step back towards the lobby exit.  

"What about the demon's of her past…what does that mean…," Connor said finally speaking up as he walked forward and aimed his usual confused glare at Wesley and Faith.

"Well that…um…well you see…," Faith said verbally stumbling as she tried to come up with a convincing explanation that wouldn't give to much away, but she was stuck for the ending.

"It's none of your business Connor, Faith isn't bad anymore and neither am I…that's all I'm going to say about that…," Wesley stepped in to complete Faith's earlier beginning as he unconsciously slipped an arm around Faith's shoulders.  

"Wesley…why can I smell you and Faith all over…," Angel began to say with a look of confused worriment before Giles cut in.

"Isn't it obvious…," Giles said with a contemplative frown on his face as he took a few more steps towards Wesley and Gunn, as the latter let Fred help him back to his feet. 

"Wait…you don't…," Angel started to say with his brows furrowed as he glanced back and forth between Giles and Faith, as if he was expecting one or both of them to explain.  

"Now you're catching on Peaches…," Spike said butting in with a big smirk on his face as only a furious glare from Angel kept him from laughing.

"What do you know Spike…," Angel shot back with a look on his face as if he didn't know exactly what to do and wanted to get away to think on the subject.

"I know what those two have been doing…but from the looks of things they don't want it to be public knowledge…so you wanna make an ass out of yourself and let the cat out of the bag then go ahead I'm not going to stop you," Spike said with a cheery smirk on his face as he stepped around Angel and walked over to stand beside Buffy and Giles.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on here…," Dawn almost yelled out with an overwhelmed look of desperation on her face as she tried to look everyone in the face.

"The good guys won and the baddies lost…that simple enough for ya Bit," Spike said with a restrained smile on his face as he ran a hand through his dust filled hair before shaking his head and letting the dust fly all over.  

"I guess so…," Dawn mumbled slightly as she nodded her head and looked back towards Buffy, who now edged a little closer to Spike.

"Giles…how did you know about…all of this," Buffy said with a look on her face as if the question had just come to her mere seconds before as she turned to Giles, who remained silent for a few seconds before answering.

"Well…you see, before I came to the party I paid Wesley a visit to discuss a few things and I ended up barging in on one of their planning sessions, so they told me what was going to happen and how they planned to stop it and thus I agreed to help them…but I fear that Lilah jumped the gun a bit so the plan didn't go exactly as scheduled," Giles said with a serious scowl on his face as he looked back and forth between Wesley, Faith, and Buffy.  

"So what happened to Lilah," Fred interjected calmly as she kept a wary eye on Wesley and Faith, who retreated back to lean up against the desk.  

"She's dead, Wolfram and Hart don't look to kindly on failure of any kind," Wesley said with an odd look on his face as to those who really knew him they could tell that the words affected him much more than he was letting on.  Faith patted him on the shoulder with a look of consolation on her face and would have hugged and kissed him had they been the only ones in the lobby, but as it was she stuck with that simple reassuring touch.  

"So what do we do now…," Buffy started to say with a somber look on her face even though there were almost a million more questions that she wanted to ask but at the moment she was too tired to worry about asking them.

"I don't know…we barely had enough money to keep this place going before the party…now look at it…," Angel said with a defeated frown on his face as he looked around at the devastation in the lobby.  

"I wish I could help Angel I really do, but I have enough money troubles back in Sunnydale," Buffy said with a frustrated look on her face before Spike gingerly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close, an act that set Angel's nerves on edge.  

"Of course we could always just use this check," Lorne said with a shocked look on his face as he was shaking slightly with the money collection box nearby.  

"What check," Gunn said with a confused but non-expectant frown on his face as he kept one hand on his nose as he made his way over to Lorne.  

"The one that I'm holding in my hands right this second," Lorne gasped back as a suppressed smile spread quickly across his face.  

"The one for a million dollars…," Fred gasped out, looking as if she were about to faint, as she looked up at Angel with eyes as wide as silver dollars.

"What…that can't be right, let me see," Angel said, completely flabbergasted, as he rushed over and took the check from Lorne and then spent the next several moments silently staring at the check while everyone else in the lobby, save Connor as he didn't understand what the big deal was, stared at each other with confused looks on their faces.  

"Who would have that kind of money…," Faith interjected with a wondering look on her face as she turned to Wesley with a look on her face that seemed to be expecting him to know the answer or at least shed some light on it.  

"Better yet who would have that kind of money…and give it to us at a party," Wesley said with a confused but thoughtful scowl on his face as he lightly squeezed Faith's shoulder.  

"Who's it from Angel," Dawn said after finally finding her voice in the confusion as she took a wary step towards Angel.

"Glargaratchhoooo…," Angel muttered with a questioning tone to his voice as he turned the check over a couple of times almost as if he expected to find a joke on the other side.

"Bless you," Lorne said with a confused but trying to be helpful look on his face as he lightly patted Angel on the shoulder.

"Glargaratchhoooo was a Grapiolen demon that we helped out a few months back," Wesley said with a very straightforward tone to his voice as he leaned a bit more on Faith, causing his arm to now be completely around her shoulders.  For her part Buffy was shocked to notice that Faith seemed to relish in being the shoulder that Wesley was leaning on.  

"Wait…I remember him, the little guy with gas problem right," Gunn said with a hint of a smile spread across his face as for a moment he seemed to forget his injured nose.  

"Charles," Fred exclaimed in a scolding manner as she lightly glared at Gunn, who tried not to act to hurt or put back.

"It's okay Fred, Gunn's right…Glargaratchhoooo's home became infested with Jirelal demons…who as we all know produce a rather pungent odor when they exhale," Wesley said calmly in a way that made everyone else in the lobby feel as if they were back in elementary school and Wesley was their teacher, explaining to them something that to him was as simple and straightforward as his multiplication tables.  

"Wait a minute…I remember them now…that whole place smelled worse than rotten eggs and vinegar, I'm still airing out the suit that I wore that night," Lorne moaned with a look of regret and uncomfortable ness on his face as he looked back over at Angel. 

"But I still don't understand, how did he get all of this money…and why give it to us," Angel said with a confused scowl on his face, still unsure of exactly how and why he had received the check.  

"He kept saying that he was really rich and had a lot of money stored away and that we shouldn't worry about getting paid…," Wesley stated with a small grin on his face as Faith reached her odd hand up and interlocked his fingers, on the hand that he had draped around her shoulder, with hers.  

"But he paid us…didn't he…," Fred interjected with her usual look of a combination unsure but hopeful frown on her face, the look that had at first endeared almost everyone to her when they pulled her out of Pylea.  

"Well maybe he just wanted to give you guys a bonus…or something," Faith said with a helpful sigh and light shrug of her shoulders as she looked over at Fred.  

"Or maybe he had a feeling that you all would be needing it one day…like to pay Cordelia's hospital bills," Giles said with a serious look on his face as both Angel and Connor turned to him with worried looks on their faces.  

"Of course Cordelia…Giles, how is she," Angel said with a very worried look on his face as he completely turned towards Giles.  

"I think she's going to be fine…but I must admit that I left before the doctor's could get done examining her…and I think that it would do her good to see you…both of you," Giles said with a slightly sheepish look on his face before he finished by holding his hand up and momentarily stopping a very eager Connor so that Angel could be included as well.  

"Of course…come on Connor let's go," Angel started to say with a slightly conflicted look on his face before he lightly patted Connor on the back in a reassuring way and was glad that the young man didn't flinch away.  

"What do we do now," Dawn said through a poorly stifled yawn as she took a step over and lightly rested her head on Buffy's shoulder.

"You getting sleepy Bit," Spike asked softly with an almost fatherly smile on his face as he glanced over at Dawn, who then tried to respond but fell mostly silent as she didn't try to stifle a second large yawn.  

"Maybe you should all stay here…at least for the night…there's plenty of room…right…da…Angel…," Connor said very nervously as he tried to politely smile at everyone in the lobby before he slowly turned to Angel.

"You're right Connor…you're all welcome to spend the night here and then get a fresh start in the morning…free of charge of course," Angel started to say with a relieved look on his face, that seemed to ease Connor's nervousness a bit, as he looked at everyone in the room.

"Thank you Angel…I think that it would be for the best," Giles said with a thankful look on his face as he looked over and saw that for all their fortitude and stubbornness all that seemed to be keeping Buffy, Spike, and Dawn on their feet was each other and their unwillingness to show weakness.  Giles felt a slight pang of worry as he saw Buffy turn her head and lay her forehead down onto Spike's shoulder and mumble something softly that made the recently soul enforced vampire smile warmly.  

"Thanks for the offer Angel, but if it's all the same to you Wes and I are going to go back to his place," Faith interjected wearily as she and Wesley began to slowly make their way towards what was left of the Hyperion's entrance, hoping that no one would stop them and ask why they were leaving together.  All they got was a small snicker from Spike that caused Buffy to lift her head up a bit and cock an eyebrow as she gave him a confused look.  In turn Spike leaned over and softly whispered a few words into her ear, words that made Buffy almost gasp in shock as she watched as Wesley and Faith slowly left the hotel unopposed with everyone just watching them go with confused looks on their faces.  

"Hey Angel…you want Fred and me to come with you," Gunn said with a curious look on his face as he lightly wrapped an arm around Fred.  

"No it's okay, they probably won't let very many people see her tonight and it'd be best if Connor and I just went…you guys get some sleep," Angel said with a tired look on his face as beside him Connor looked ready to object if he heard something that he didn't agree with, but when Angel finished Connor just frowned and nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay then…tell her hi for us," Fred interjected sheepishly as she leaned into Gunn and tried to stay awake.  

"Will do…," Angel shouted back as he and Connor almost ran out of the hotel and headed towards his car.  

*                     *                      *                   *                 *               *              *              *

After Angel and Connor left Spike slowly led Buffy and Dawn up the first flight of stairs and opened the first door that he came to.  He started to tell Dawn to take this room but by that time the teenager was almost asleep on her feet, forcing Buffy to help him lay her on the bed.  Next Spike helped Buffy nearly stumble out of the room and shut the door before getting to the next one.  Buffy opened it with one hand while stifling a large yawn with the other.  After helping her over to the bed Spike reluctantly turned to leave, but stopped when he felt Buffy's hand on his arm.

"Spike," Buffy mumbled softly as Spike turned back around.

"Yes luv," Spike mumbled softly back with a small smirk on his face that masked his fear at the moment.

"Stay with me," Buffy softly said back with a very tired smile on her face as she looked up into Spike's eyes.  When he started to very reluctantly protest Buffy stopped him with an equally pleading and soft, "Please."  For a split second Spike debated whether or not to comply, but then a second look into her eyes sealed his fate.

"Of course pet…," Spike said softly with a smile as he walked over and closed the door before returning to the bed and sitting down beside her.  Soon she was fast asleep, wrapped in his arms.  For his part Spike tried to stay awake and fully take in what was happening, but barely an hour later he succumbed to sleep as well.

*             *                  *                  *               *               *               *               *            *

After they left the Hyperion Wesley had begun to get into the drivers seat but Faith glared at him until he relented and slipped into the passenger side seat, letting her drive.  On the drive back to his apartment neither spoke more than a few words, mostly their being relieved that everyone had made it through the night.  Upon getting back to his apartment Wesley stumbled into the bathroom and forced himself to take a shower before he went back into the living room, allowing Faith to slip in and take a shower of her own.  After she finished her shower Faith slipped into the bedroom and shut the door, leaving Wesley sitting on the couch with a confused look on his face.  He could hear her rummaging around for something but he didn't want to bother her so he remained on the couch, debating whether or not to turn the television on or not.  He got so far as to be holding the remote when he heard her voice waft into the living room.

"You can watch that later Wes…it's time to celebrate," Faith said with a seductive tone to her voice as Wesley slowly turned around and was surprised and excited to see a still glistening Faith leaning up against the doorframe clad in only her clown nose with a come hither look on her face.  

"If you say so luv…," Wesley mumbled out with a growing smile on his face as he awkwardly set the remote down on the coffee table and stood up before making his way over to Faith, letting his bathrobe slip off in the process.

"There's that accent again…you trying to get me all riled up watcher…," Faith quipped with a hungry look in her eye as she lifted her head and smiled seductively at Wesley, who reached a hand up and ran a finger idly down from her ear to her chin and then down to her collar.

"How am I doing…," Wesley said with a smile that he knew to be cheesy but didn't care on his face before he leaned down and gave Faith a soft kiss.

"Let me show you," Faith said almost breathlessly as she grabbed Wesley by the arm and pulled him into the bedroom before wrapping her arms around him and the pair set about trying to devour each other with only their kisses.  The last thing Wesley remembered before ecstasy overtook him was how good Faith smelled and how soft and smooth her skin was.  Faith's last memories of that same time were of how good it felt to be with someone that loved her every bit as much as she loved him.

END OF CHAPTER 20


	21. Epilogue

**SECOND CHANCES**

**Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I create.**

**Author's Note:  This is the Epilogue, after this will come the sequel if I get some more reviews that want it.**

**CHAPTER 21-EPILOGUE**

It had been three weeks.  Three weeks after the party and the longest time that either Wesley or Faith had spent out of his apartment, better yet the bedroom, could be calculated with minutes counting as the fingers on a hand.  Had they used their better judgment during that period of time both probably would have wanted to take some time off, but all they could seem to do for those three weeks was get lost in the bliss that was each other and the realm of dreams.  Angel and the others had made numerous attempts to get in touch with them, mostly to get the whole story as to how Faith had been released from prison in the first place to how she and Wesley, a fact that was still hard to believe for most involved, had gotten together to how the two had come to be wearing mercenary outfits the night of the party.  Before he and the others had gone back to Sunnydale Giles had tried his best to explain the situation but he couldn't do it completely as he didn't know the entire story. Cordelia had gotten out of the hospital after about a week and was now recuperating in one of the rooms on the second story, with both Connor and Angel at her beck and call, whenever one or both of them wasn't out on a call helping someone in need.  Gunn had taken charge of the remodeling of the Hyperion, and after three weeks the old hotel was starting to look almost like it had at the beginning of the party, even with a few improvements.  Fred had begged and begged until Angel and Gunn had relented and put in the budget money to pay for a small library near where the rebuilt office would be.  To counter that Angel, after some considerable lamenting of his destroyed weapons chest, made sure to get an even larger weapons chest, saying that if Faith joined them in the fight at A.I. then they'd need more weapons.  

Angel and Connor had tried to smooth out the rougher parts in their relationship since the party, with some progress, greatly because of a lot of not so thinly veiled threats from Cordelia that she wouldn't speak to either one of them if they didn't.  Spike had continued to live in Buffy's basement and deal with the ramifications of regaining his soul while trying to figure out exactly what his new relationship was with Buffy.  For the most part Dawn seemed to be staying out of it, with most of her incursions into that territory being ones of asking Spike to teach her a few things that Buffy wouldn't, which he took as a sign that the gap between them was beginning to shrink.  Willow had come back and visited the Hyperion a couple times during the aftermath of the party, mostly to make sure that there were no ill effects of all of the magic that the robed magic users had cast to open the portals.  It was nearing sundown when Wesley and Faith, against their urges, decided to face the music and return to the Hyperion, hoping to smooth things out between the once close knit group, and then take a quick visit to Sunnydale.  After that they hadn't decided their next move, but both knew that they wanted to remain fighting the good fight.

*                  *                  *                      *                     *                  *                     *          *

"You sure about this Wes, we didn't leave here under the best of circumstances remember," Faith said with some trepidation in her voice as she and Wesley stopped by the fountain in front of the Hyperion.  Like her days of old Faith had decided against playing it safe and slipped into something she was comfortable in while at the same time hoping to get a reaction out of Angel.  What she chose to wear in the end was an overly tight pair of black leather pants, dark hiking boots which were a gift from Wesley, and a white ever revealing top that didn't look that bad with the dark blue dress shirt she wore over it.  Her hair, instead of its usual place cascading down her shoulders in an unruly river, was for the most part pulled back in a loose ponytail, highlighted by a pair of earrings that she had forced Wesley to buy, much to his chagrin. 

"You're right we didn't, but if we're ever going to work with them again then we have to at least take the first step," Wesley said back with an unsure scowl on his face as he took in the task that lay in front of the two lovers.  Seeking to change his image from what the rest of Angel Investigations thought of him as Wesley had shaved his beard and gotten just enough sleep to rid himself of the bags that had formed under his eyes.  He had originally intended to wear something much the same as he had in his earlier visits to A.I.  But like many other women Faith had forced her own sense of style onto Wesley and so he wore clothing much the same to Faith's.  All in all they made quite the fetching pair.  

"You think they'll want to work with us, back at the party Angel seemed like he'd probably be okay with it, but the others…well…I think that they're going to take some more convincing," Faith exclaimed sadly as she shrugged her shoulders and was glad for the knife that she had tucked in under her pant leg.  At first Wesley had been hell-bent against her taking any kind of weapon into the Hyperion with them, but after some time spent explaining he had reluctantly allowed Faith to take it in with her.  It wasn't that she expected to have to use the small knife but she just felt better that she had a weapon with her. 

"Well Gunn's bark is far worse than his bite, he'll come around once we get Fred on our side, no matter how angry he is he's clay in her hands," Wesley said back almost with a laugh as he laid a reassuring hand on Faith's, who was suddenly smirking, shoulder.

"There's a lot of that going around," Faith said with a happy smirk before she continued, "But what about Angel's kid…and Lorne, he'll probably want me to sing some stupid song so that he can read me…."

"It's what he does best Faith, being an empathy demon and all, but Connor shouldn't be to hard to get along with, once we talk to Cordelia and get across to her that neither one of us has gone over to the dark side the only thing that we'll need to seal the deal is some time," Wesley said desperately trying to not let Faith's oddball sense of humor overwhelm him, although it was getting increasingly difficult to do so. 

"I hope you're right Wes…oh well, guess we can't stay out here forever can we, time to get the hard part over with," Faith mumbled with a great deal of anxiety as she looked up at Wesley, who nodded his head in silent agreement, before she slipped her hand into his and the two walked into the Hyperion.

*                 *                  *                 *                  *                *                   *                    *

When Wesley and Faith walked into the Hyperion Connor had been busy helping Angel clean a great deal of slime off of a couple of axes.  It had been the chance that Angel had been waiting for and he took full advantage of it, getting in just about the longest conversation that he had ever had with his son before being interrupted.  Cordelia was asleep upstairs in her room with Lorne nearby playing nursemaid while Fred and Gunn were tirelessly going over the new building plans. Like many other visitors, and friends, that walked through the front doors of the old hotel Wesley and Faith had to announce their presence.  Faith was about to yell out something when Wesley restrained her with a hand on her arm.  To announce their presence he instead decided to loudly clear his throat.  Angel was the first to look up.

"Wes…Faith," Angel almost stammered out, nearly tripping over the words in his shock to see the pair standing on the entryways top step looking slightly scared.  

"You two finally decided to stop having sex long enough to talk," Gunn stated bluntly with a serious scowl on his face as he looked up from where he was looking over the plans with Fred.

"It's nice to see you to Gunn…and how are you," Wesley said softly as beside him Faith was trying her best to keep from rushing over to Gunn and finishing what she had started three weeks earlier.  Without asking Wesley and Faith walked down the few steps in the entryway and soon stood close to Angel and Connor.

"Everything okay, I called a few times…," Angel said with a nervous look on his face as he tried to keep the situation as calm as he could, not wanting to start a brawl between former and hopefully future friends. 

"Yeah we know…sorry about that Angel, but Wes and I had…other things on our minds," Faith chipped in with an embarrassed smile on her face as she jammed her hands into her pockets and stared at the floor.  

"But no nothing's wrong, we just thought that it was time that we all sat down and talked, it's obvious that there's a lot to talk about and work through," Wesley said with a serious look on his face as Angel stood up and was soon almost face to face with Wesley.  Had this meeting taken place a few months earlier Wesley would most likely have ended up dead.  But after a few tense moments of intently studying the looks on both Wesley and Faith's faces, not to mention the look in their eyes, Angel surprised everyone and smiled widely as he shook Wesley's hand warmly before patting him on the back and turning to do the same to Faith.  Sitting down and still cleaning the weapons Connor was shocked by Angel's actions but he knew enough to know that if Angel accepted the two then so should he.  The only one that didn't seem happy with the outcome was Gunn, but Fred quickly grabbed his hand and squeezed hard, letting him know to drop his opposition for the moment.

"I'd offer you a place to sit down…but as you can see there really aren't any," Angel said politely, trying his best to sound like a well to do host that was greeting guests.  

"That's fine, we really just came to explain some things…so you don't hate us anymore," Faith said softly as she picked her head up and looked only at Angel.  The look of shock on Angel's face told Faith all that she needed to know, even if the majority of those in the old hotel would never forgive them Angel already had.

"What…hate you…we don't hate you, a little upset maybe, but not hate," Angel said with a worried look on his face before Connor broke in with a very straightforward question that got to the heart of the matter.  

"Why were you two wearing those uniforms at the party," Connor asked with an almost emotionless look on his face as he finished cleaning one weapon and picked the next one to start cleaning it.  

"Since none of us is going anywhere I'll tell you the whole story…but feel free to stop me and ask questions if there's something that you don't understand, but remember Faith and I do reserve the right to refuse to answer any question that we deem to invasive," Wesley said with an almost scared look on his face, but the tone of his voice was glad, glad to be finally getting all of it off of his shoulders and out into the open.  During the next three hours the discussion went off peacefully enough, with Faith interjecting facts when needed and mostly Gunn and Angel asking the questions.  When it was all over Angel had heard enough and knew the true reason that Faith and Wesley had come.  Gunn seemed to be ready for the pair to leave but beside him Fred seemed to be barely able to restrain her enthusiasm as she had come to the same conclusion as Angel, that Wesley and Faith had truly come to the Hyperion to talk about adding their services to that of Angel Investigations.  For the most part Connor didn't seem to fully grasp what was going on, but he could see Angel's growing level of excitement that he managed a slightly hearty smile and chose to say nothing.

"So that means that you were never with the mercenaries…right," Fred managed to mumble out with a combined scared but excited look on her face as she stepped around to the front of the counter, completely ignoring Gunn's warning glances.

"Exactly…the only reason that we were even wearing those clothes was so that we could get around the Hyperion without getting hassled," Faith said, sounding almost chipper, with a small pretend look of disgust on her face as she ran a hand nervously through her ponytail.  

"Although our luck didn't hold out very long," Wesley said with a slightly uncomfortable grimace on his face as he reached up and rubbed a spot on his shoulder that was still sore from their fight with the Fyarl demon.

"But why didn't you come to us initially…things would have gone a lot smoother if we had known that Wolfram and Hart was intending to crash the party," Angel exclaimed with a concerned scowl on his face as he inspected the blade of the sword that he was holding.

"We thought about it…but at the time we found out about the attack Wes wasn't exactly welcome here and me…well…I didn't have a clue how you'd react to me," Faith said with an almost tentative look on her face, one that Angel wasn't sure if he had ever seen on her face.

"Well it doesn't matter now does it, we won the battle with Wolfram and Hart…and even added a slayer to our ranks…all in all I think we came out ahead," Connor said finally with a slightly unsure tone to his voice that quickly changed to an almost excited one as he nodded Faith's way.  

"I don't know…how…," Gunn started to say with a very concerned scowl on his face as he began to walk around the counter to stand beside Fred, who looked scared.

"I agree with Connor, now that Wesley's back…along with Faith, Angel Investigations can finally get back to normal…or at least what passes for normal around here," Angel said quickly with a hopeful look on his face as he stood up and walked over to Wesley, holding a tentative hand out as he went.  With a little bit of trepidation Wesley reached his own hand out and was soon shaking hands with Angel, much to Faith and Fred's delight, but Gunn's chagrin.  Still seated Connor looked on with a slightly confused scowl on his face before he was suddenly filled with a surge of confidence that everything would finally be alright.  When Angel stopped shaking hands with Wesley and turned to Faith Wesley was ready to catch his breath, but his quiet moment was cut short when Fred ran up and threw her arms around him, giving him the first hug that he'd had in a long time, that wasn't from Faith.  Reluctantly Gunn nodded his head in welcome, a gesture that Wesley tried his best to return while still in Fred's embrace.  

"So now what…we all sit around a fire and sing a happy song," Faith added with a confused look of joyous restraint on her face as she edged closer to Wesley, hoping to keep him in between herself and anyone else.  

"Well…we got the renovations under control so we're fine there…Cordelia just needs some peace and quiet…so you can't help there…guess we got nothing on the schedule that I can see," Gunn said with a very serious scowl on his face as he turned back and picked up the clipboard that held a portion of the renovation plans.

"You're forgetting something Gunn…you're forgetting Lindsey…or whatever that thing was that mocked us the other night, he looked like he was back," Angel stated very dryly in his usual way that told everyone in the room that there was more to the situation than met the eye.

"And looking to cause some trouble…with a capital t," Fred interjected sheepishly with a careful smile on her face as she backed away from Wesley and Faith and moved closer to Gunn.  

"Exactly, so what we need to do first is to find out where Lindsey has been in the past few months and see what the word is on the street, see if any of our old contacts have heard anything about a new player in town," Wesley said with an authoritative air about him as beside him, against her better judgment, Faith was beaming with pride towards the man that she loved.  

"See that…been here all of a few hours and English is already barking out orders…well hate to break it to ya Wes…but you're not in charge here anymore…Angel is," Gunn said with an undeniable hint of anger and resentment in his voice that he tried to hide but everyone in the room picked up on it, most of all Faith.  

"What's that supposed to mean Gunn…you want me to finish what I started after the party…," Faith exclaimed with an angry scowl on her face as she stepped in front of Wesley and began to roll up her sleeves, looking ready for a fight.  Sensing the calamity that could take place Angel quickly jumped up and got in the middle.

"We're not going to do this…not here…not now…not ever, Fred you and Gunn hit the books and try to find out where Lindsey has been hiding these last few months, Wesley and Faith…for safety's sake I think that you two should hit the streets and look up our contacts," Angel said with a commanding and hopefully calming tone to his voice as he kept his body tense for any action that took place.    

"Fine…c'mon Wes lets hit the road, I'm feeling all pent up, I need to kill something…and I'm thinking that it'd be better if that something was undead rather than anyone here," Faith said with a frustrated scowl on her face as she grabbed Wesley's arm and slowly began to lead him back out of the Hyperion.  Wesley allowed her to lead him out of the hotel without much resistance, only stopping in the doorway to nod his head in agreement towards Angel once before disappearing out the doorway.

"You sure we can trust them," Gunn asked with a hesitant frown on his face as he hadn't moved from the spot that he had been occupying for the past few minutes.

"We don't have a choice Gunn…we have to," Angel said through a large sigh before Connor looked up at him with a confused and slightly hurt look on his face.

"What should you and I do…sit around and…," Connor asked solemnly, all without ever looking Angel in the eye.  

"Actually Connor, we're going to check on Cordelia and then hit the streets ourselves, I have a few…special…contacts that Faith and Wesley don't know about, besides…it'll give us a chance to talk," Angel said with a hopeful smirk on his face as he saw Connor's face brighten up at the mention that he actually got to do something.  Before long Fred was on the computer searching through every database that she could think of that would aid them in their investigation about Lindsey's whereabouts while Gunn was squinting his way through telephone and travel records.  At the same time Angel and Connor were strolling into a demon bar, without a hint of fear on them.  For their part Faith and Wesley had gotten in contact with a few clients before they put the back seats in Wesley's SUV down and got lost in each other's arms for they cared not how long.

END OF EPILOGUE


End file.
